[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 29 (Thursday, February 15, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E368-E369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF HOYA BASKETBALL

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 15, 2007

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to call to my 
colleagues' attention this year's 100th anniversary of Hoya Basketball 
at Georgetown University here in the Nation's Capital. Over the last 
century, the Georgetown Hoyas have had great success on the basketball 
court, but I am proud to say there is much more to the Hoyas than their 
athletic prowess. The teams have had a strong record of academic 
success, community service and developing leaders that have served the 
Nation with distinction.
  First, to their success on the basketball court: The Hoyas were the 
NCAA National Champions in 1984 and have made it to the Sweet Sixteen 
or beyond in nine NCAA tournaments since 1980. They have played in 
National Championship games in 1943, 1982, 1984 and 1985. Since the 
founding of the Big East Conference in 1980, the Hoyas have been six 
time Big East Champions. Having played in ten National Invitational 
Tournaments, in three years, the Georgetown team made it to the NIT 
Final Four. Former Georgetown head basketball coach John Thompson, Jr., 
was named Coach of the Year seven times during his career at 
Georgetown. In 1988, Coach John Thompson, Jr. coached the U.S. Men's 
Olympic Basketball team, and six of the last eight U.S. Men's Olympic 
teams have included Georgetown Hoya players or coaching. After 
completing their careers at Georgetown, many of their players have gone 
on to success in the NBA including Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, 
Allen Iverson and Patrick Ewing, to name just a few.
  Georgetown athletics have also been committed to ensuring the 
academic success of their players. In fact, during the years when Coach 
John Thompson, Jr. led the team to win after win on the basketball 
court, he also focused on ensuring that his players succeeded in the 
classroom. Of 78 players who stayed at the University for four years 
during the years that John Thompson, Jr., led the team, 76 received 
their degrees for a 97% graduation rate. Since being under the coaching 
of Craig Esherick and John Thompson, III, the Hoyas have maintained 
that same commitment to ensuring the academic success of their players 
on the court.
  In addition to the Georgetown Hoyas who have gone on to professional 
basketball careers of significant renown, two former Georgetown team 
members are names all of us in the Congress will recognize. First, our 
former colleague who just retired earlier this year after a long career 
in this chamber, the Honorable Henry Hyde of Illinois, played on the 
first Georgetown Hoyas team to play in a National Championship game in 
1943. Here in the House, Congressman Hyde served with distinction both 
as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and of the House 
International Relations Committee. The other familiar name, Paul 
Tagliabue, served as Commissioner of the National Football League from 
1989 through September, 2006. Mr. Tagliabue graduated from Georgetown 
in 1962 and subsequently earned a law degree from New York 
University School of Law. His record of rebounds remains in the top 20 
through Georgetown Hoya history.

  It is also heartening to know that this team has a long record of 
community service here in the District of Columbia as well as 
nationally and internationally. Since 1980 when the Hoyas began playing 
in arenas off campus with adequate space, it has been Georgetown 
basketball policy to donate at least 1,000 tickets per game to 
community groups here in the City. At present, some 80 organizations 
benefit from those donations in a typical season. Recognizing the 
importance of developing interactions between young people and law 
enforcement, the Hoyas partner with the DC Police Department and Coca-
Cola each year to sponsor the ``Kids `n Cops'' program when about 1,500 
young people from the District attend a Hoyas basketball game with 
members of the District police force. Also, as part of a broader 
Georgetown athletics mentoring program known as ``GAME,'' basketball 
team members tutor students at the SEED School here in the District.
  The experience of engaging in community service has carried forward 
as Hoyas graduate and go on to their own careers. I will share just a 
few of many examples of this important legacy of Georgetown basketball. 
Alonzo Mourning who graduated in 1992, is deeply involved in community 
programs in South Florida where he now lives with a focus on 
development and education programs for at-risk children and their 
families. He has also supported kidney research and programming for 
foster children. Since leaving Georgetown in 1998, Allen Iverson has 
established the Crossover Foundation which is actively involved in 
mentoring young people, assisting with access to technology and 
providing scholarships. As we heard in this chamber last week during 
the President's State of the Union address, Dikembe Mutombo, who 
graduated from Georgetown in 1991, has funded a 300 bed teaching 
hospital in his home of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 
1996, he also funded the expenses of the Zairian women's Olympic 
basketball team. In addition, he has been engaged in the NBA's 
Basketball Without Borders program in Africa and elsewhere.
  In closing, I would also note that, as part of the important effort 
to promote public diplomacy, three former Georgetown Hoyas, Courtland 
Freeman, Omari Faulkner, and RaMell Ross, have in recent years 
participated in the State Department's cultural envoys program. That 
work has taken them to South Africa and Botswana where they have 
focused on efforts to promote behaviors to prevent the spread of HIV-
AIDS and to El Salvador and

[[Page E369]]

Brazil where they have concentrated in part on anti-gang messages.
  Indeed, as the Congresswoman representing Georgetown University and 
as a tenured member of the Universiy's Law Center faculty, I am proud 
to represent and to be associated with the accomplishments of the 
Georgetown Hoyas over the last century. I look forward to continuing 
successes under the leadership of their current coach, John Thompson 
III.

                          ____________________