The 1956–57 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1956–57 NCAA University Division college basketball season. Tom Nolan coached them in his first season as head coach. The team was an independent and played its home games at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas finished with a record of 11–11, the best of Nolan's four-year tenure as head coach and had no post-season play.
Georgetown's new head coach, Tom Nolan, had been a standout on the Georgetown basketball teams of the 1935–36, 1936–37, and 1937–38 seasons and would coach the Hoyas for four seasons. His assistant, who also joined the Hoyas this season, was Tommy O'Keefe, a star Georgetown player of the 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, and 1949–50 seasons who had then played for a season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 1960, O'Keefe would succeed Nolan as Georgetown's head coach.
Season recap
Senior forward Warren Buehler, who had taken a leave of absence from the team the previous season, returned this season and played in 20 games, scoring 228 points despite a slow start, with 20 or more points three times in games late in the season. He graduated after the end of the season as the top scorer and second all-time rebounder in Georgetown history at the time, with 1,134 career points and 461 career rebounds.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 42. Warren Buehler
Senior forward Joe Missett also played in 20 games and scored in double figures in each of them, averaging 15.9 points per game. He was the team's top scorer for the second straight year and became the first Georgetown player in history to lead the team in rebounds in three consecutive seasons.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 31. Joe Missett
Senior guard-forward Matt White scored in double figures in all but five games, and over a nine-game stretch scored exactly 16 points six times.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 78. Matt White Junior forward Ken Pichette averaged 11.0 points per game.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 62. Ken Pichette
The team finished with a record of 11–11, had no postseason play, and was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll or Coaches' Poll at any time.sports-reference.com 1956-57 Independent Season Summarysports-reference.com 1956-57 Polls
Roster SourcesThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers #NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious Team(s)5Warren Buehler6"4"185FSr.Bayonne, NJ, U.S.Sweeney HS6Jack WoodN/AN/AFJr.Newark, NJ, U.S.Good Counsel HS8John Clark6'2"N/AGJr.Binghamton, NY, U.S.Saint Patrick HS9Dick Percudani6'1"N/AGSr.Elmhurst, NY, U.S.Power Memorial Academy11Les Sweitzer6'4"N/AGSo.Palmerton, PA, U.S.Palmerton HS13Jack Nies5'10"N/AFSo.Jersey City, NJ, U.S.St. Peter's Preparatory School14Dale Smith6'4"N/AGSr.Allentown, PA, U.S.Allentown Central Catholic HS15Leo Phillips6'5"N/AFSr.York, PA, U.S.William Penn HS17Ken Pichette6'3"185FJr.Binghamton, NY, U.S.Central HS18Joe TitusN/AN/AFJr.Bradford, PA, U.S.Bradford Area HS20Jim Oravec6'2"N/AFSo.Palmerton, PA, U.S.Palmerton HS21Dale Seymour6'5"N/AGSr.Washington, DC, U.S.Gonzaga College HS22Joe Missett6"7"205CSr.Villanova, PA, U.S.Malvern Preparatory School24Matt White6'2"205FSr.New York, NY, U.S.La Salle HS28Randolph "Max" Schmeling6'9"N/ACSo.Spring Grove, PA, U.S.St. Francis HS
1956–57 schedule and results
Sourcessports-reference.com 1956-57 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, pp. 61, 67.
NotesSources all agree that Georgetown's record for the season was 11–11, but the schedule posted by The Georgetown Basketball History Project – which also states that the overall record was 11–11 – shows 23 games played, consisting of 12 wins and 11 losses. The 2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 61, only lists 22 games – 11 wins and 11 losses. The extra game listed by The Georgetown Basketball History Project is a 76-60 victory against Muhlenberg, on January 18, 1957. For the following 1957-58 season, The Georgetown Basketball History Project and other sources agree that Georgetown finished with a 10-11 record, but the Project lists only 20 games (9 wins and 11 losses) played. It does not list a Muhlenberg game in the 1957–58 season, but the media guide lists a 76-60 victory over Muhlenberg on an unspecified date that season, apparently in January 1958. It appears that the Georgetown Basketball History Project is mistaken in showing the 76-60 win over Muhlenberg as taking place in January 1957 and that it actually occurred a year later on January 18, 1958. ShrpSports.com confirms Georgetown winning at Muhlenberg 76-60 on January 18, 1958. The schedule posted by The Georgetown Basketball History Project shows the two games of the All-American City Tournament in late December 1956, reflected in the table below. The 2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 61, lists the two games as taking place sometime between the Mount St. Mary's and Navy games but provides no dates. An in-season tournament is more likely to have occurred in late December as shown here than in mid-January as suggested by the media guide.
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Notes
References