1916–17 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

The 1916–17 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1916-17 NCAA college basketball season. John O'Reilly coached the team in his third season as head coach.[1] Georgetown was an independent and played its home games at Ryan Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C.,[2] and finished the season with a record of 8-4.

1916–17 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
ConferenceIndependent
Record8–4
Head coach
  • John O'Reilly (3rd season)
CaptainBob O'Lone (1st year)
Home arenaRyan Gymnasium
Seasons
1916–17 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Navy   11 0   1.000
Montana State   20 2   .909
Louisiana State   20 2   .909
Canisius   9 1   .900
Creighton   18 2   .900
Virginia Tech   17 2   .895
Georgia   8 1   .889
North Dakota   8 1   .889
Brigham Young   14 2   .875
The Citadel   6 1   .857
Penn State   12 2   .857
Arizona   10 2   .833
Trinity   20 4   .833
Seton Hall   13 3   .813
Syracuse   13 3   .813
Clemson   8 2   .800
Colgate   15 4   .789
Lehigh   15 4   .789
Indiana State   13 4   .765
Oklahoma State   11 4   .733
Dayton   8 3   .727
Duquesne   7 3   .700
Michigan State   11 5   .688
Boston   6 3   .667
Georgetown   8 4   .667
Pittsburgh   12 6   .667
Tennessee   10 5   .667
Bradley   10 6   .625
Oklahoma   13 8   .619
Notre Dame   8 5   .615
Ole Miss   11 7   .611
Wake Forest   9 6   .600
Virginia   7 5   .583
St. John's (NY)   11 8   .579
North Carolina   5 4   .556
North Carolina State   10 8   .556
Butler   7 6   .538
Temple   10 9   .526
Auburn   2 2   .500
Idaho   8 8   .500
Utah   3 3   .500
West Virginia   8 8   .500
Wyoming   4 4   .500
Manhattan   7 8   .467
South Carolina   7 8   .467
Rutgers   4 5   .444
Alabama   6 8   .429
Buffalo   6 8   .429
Connecticut   4 6   .400
Kentucky   4 6   .400
Southern California   8 12   .400
William & Mary   4 9   .308
Niagara   2 5   .286
Army   3 8   .273
Cincinnati   3 8   .273
Vanderbilt   3 8   .273
Montana   4 11   .267
Texas Christian   2 6   .250
Wichita State   2 11   .154
Ohio   2 14   .125
Arizona State   0 1   .000
Rankings from AP Poll
The 1916–1917 team photo.

Season recap edit

The Hoyas' victory over Bucknell on the last day of the season began a home winning streak at Ryan Gymnasium that would reach 52 games before finally coming to an end during the 1923-24 season.[3][4][5] Georgetown also defeated crosstown rival George Washington twice this season, giving the Hoyas a six-game winning streak against George Washington – five of the wins at Ryan Gymnasium – dating back to 1915.[3][4][5]

A graduate of St. Francis College of Pennsylvania, where he had played basketball, forward Fred Fees enrolled in Georgetown University Law School and joined the team – permitted despite his undergraduate playing time under the eligibility rules of the era – for the first of four seasons with the Hoyas. A free-throw shooting specialist in an era when the rules of college basketball allowed teams to choose which player shot its free throws, Fees exploited his free-throw prowess to establish himself as one of the top scorers in college basketball in the United States in each of his seasons with the Hoyas. This season he scored 195 of the team's 450 points, averaging 15.3 points per game to lead the team in scoring. He also shot 17-for-21 from the free-throw line in a game against George Washington, setting a school record for free throws made in a single game that no Hoya would exceed for 75 years.[6][7]

Roster edit

Sources[6][8][9]

Georgetown players did not wear numbers on their jerseys this season. The first numbered jerseys in Georgetown men's basketball history would not appear until the 1933-34 season.[10]

Name Height Weight (lbs.) Position Class Hometown Previous Team(s)
Ed Bannigan N/A N/A G Fr. or Jr. Manchester, NH, U.S. Manchester HS
Ed Cashin N/A N/A F Jr. N/A N/A
George Denniston N/A N/A G Jr. N/A N/A
Fred Fees 5'6" N/A F So. Carrolltown, PA, U.S. St. Francis College (Pa.)
Roger Kelliher
(or Keliher)
N/A N/A G Sr. N/A N/A
Jim McNulty N/A N/A C Jr. N/A N/A
Harry O'Boyle N/A N/A G N/A N/A N/A
Jim O'Boyle N/A N/A G Fr. N/A N/A
Bob O'Lone N/A N/A F Jr. N/A N/A

1916–17 schedule and results edit

Sources[5][11][12][13]

It was common practice at this time for colleges and universities to include non-collegiate opponents in their schedules, with the games recognized as part of their official record for the season, and had the February 3, 1917, game against the Crescent Athletic Club not been cancelled, it would have counted as part of Georgetown's won-loss record for 1916-17. It was not until 1952, after the completion of the 1951-52 season, that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ruled that colleges and universities could no longer count games played against non-collegiate opponents in their annual won-loss records.[14]

Trinity College of North Carolina was the future Duke University.

Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Fri., Dec. 15, 1916
no, no
at Mount St. Joseph W 36–25  1-0
Mount St. Joseph Gymnasium 
Baltimore, MD
Thu., Dec. 28, 1916
no, no
Maryland cancelled Ryan Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Jan. 10, 1917
no, no
Gallaudet W 52–10  2-0
Ryan Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Fri., Jan. 12, 1917
no, no
Johns Hopkins W 46-12  3-0
Ryan Gymnasium 
Baltimore, MD
Tue., Jan. 16, 1917
no, no
Randolph–Macon cancelled Ryan Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 20, 1917
no, no
at George Washington W 31–24  4-0
YMCA Hall 
Washington, DC
Wed., Jan. 24, 1917
no, no
at Navy L 23–31  4-1
Dahlgren Hall 
Annapolis, MD
Fri., Jan. 26, 1917
no, no
St. John's W 44–26  5-1
Ryan Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Jan. 31, 1917
no, no
at Seton Hall L 17–18  5-2
N/A 
South Orange, NJ
Thu., Feb. 1, 1917
no, no
at St. John's L 24–38  5-3
N/A 
New York, NY
Sat., Feb. 3, 1917
no, no
at Crescent Athletic Club cancelled N/A 
New York, NY
Wed., Feb. 7, 1917
no, no
George Washington W 45–23  6-3
Ryan Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 10, 1917
no, no
at Mount St. Joseph W 32–15  7-3
Mount St. Joseph Gymnasium 
Baltimore, MD
Thu., Feb. 15, 1917
no, no
Trinity (N.C.) L 24–36  7-4
Ryan Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Mon., Feb. 19, 1917
no, no
Bucknell W 43–31  8-4
Ryan Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References edit

  1. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  2. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Home Courts
  3. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Ryan Gymnasium Years". Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  4. ^ a b The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1910s Seasons
  5. ^ a b c The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1920s Seasons
  6. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Best of His Era". Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  7. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 22. Fred Fees
  8. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1910-11 to 1919-1920". Archived from the original on January 9, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  9. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: All-Time Player Directory". Georgetown University. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  10. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1930-31 to 1939-1940". Archived from the original on February 12, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  11. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  12. ^ sports-reference.com 1916-17 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results
  13. ^ 2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 58.
  14. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Non-Collegiate Opponents". Archived from the original on February 12, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2014.