The 1949–50 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1949–50 NCAA college basketball season. Francis "Buddy" O'Grady coached it in his first of three seasons as head coach. The team was an independent and played its home games at the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C. It finished with a record of 12–12 and had no post-season play.

Season recap

New head coach O'Grady had been a three-year standout guard on the Hoya teams of 1939–1942. After military service in World War II, he had played professional basketball for three seasons with the Washington Capitols and the Rochester Royals before retiring to coach at Georgetown.

Although coaches of the freshman team had assisted the varsity teams head coach from time to time, Georgetown had never had a formal assistant coach on the varsity team until this season, when former Georgetown player Jim "Miggs" Reilly became the Hoyas first formal assistant coach.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Assistant Coaches

The season saw the beginning of annual meetings between rivals Fordham and Georgetown, which would continue through 1979.

Guard Tommy O'Keefe played an unprecedented fourth season on the varsity team this year. Freshmen were ineligible for varsity play under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules at the time, but this had been lifted for four seasons during and just after World War II. The NCAA restored freshman ineligibility in 1947, but when the Georgetown athletic department petitioned the NCAA to recognize O'Keefes 1946-47 sophomore season at Georgetown as the equivalent of a freshman season prior to the NCAA restoration of freshman ineligibility, the NCAA agreed, allowing O'Keefe to play for Georgetown for a fourth season in 1949–50. He led the 1949–50 team, scoring in double figures in 21 of its 24 games. Early in the year, he shot 10-for-15 from the field in Georgetowns upset of Penn State, and he had a career-high 23 points in an upset of Rutgers. He finished as the teams leading scorer for the third straight year – the first Georgetown player to lead for three straight seasons in 15 years – and was selected to play on the East team alongside Holy Cross standout Bob Cousy in the East-West All-Star Game.

Georgetown's January 14, 1950, game against Holy Cross at Worcester Memorial Auditorium in Worcester, Massachusetts, was the Hoyas' first against a team ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Poll.Reagan, John, "Forgotten Rivals," The Georgetown Basketball History Project, June 4, 2018 Accessed 26 June 2021 Cousey led the Crusaders to a 77–51 victory over Georgetown.

The young, undersized 1949–50 team started with a 10–5 record in its first 15 games, but then struggled, losing seven of its last nine games to finish the year at 12–12. It had no postseason play and was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll at any time.sports-reference.com 1949-50 Independent Season Summary

O'Keefe ended his Georgetown career with 1,018 points, the first Georgetown player in history to score more than 1,000 points. He would go on to play professional basketball for one season with the Washington Capitols and Baltimore Bullets in 1950–51 and to serve as Georgetowns assistant coach for four seasons from 1956 to 1960 and as head coach for six seasons from 1960 to 1966.

Roster SourcesThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers

#NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious Team(s)15Mike VitaleN/AN/AGSo.East Orange, NJ, U.S.Seton Hall Preparatory School16Tony Durmowicz6'5"N/AFSo.Baltimore, MD, U.S.Loyola HS17Don O'Leary6'2"N/AGJr.New York, NY, U.S.La Salle HS25Jay Kirby6'3"N/AFSo.Ridgewood, NJ, U.S.N/A26Clint Conlin5'11"N/AGSr.Washington, DC, U.S.N/A27Tommy O'Keefe6'0"180G5th yearJersey City, NJ, U.S.University of Notre Dame28John Mazziotta6'5"N/AFJr.New York, NY, U.S.N/A29Steve RogersN/AN/AGSr.N/AN/A30Johnny Brown6'3"N/ACSr.Staten Island, NY, U.S.Tottenville HS31Dick Falvey6'0"N/AGSr.New York, NY, U.S.La Salle Academy32Danny Supkis6'7"N/AFJr.New York, NY, U.S.St. Alban's HS33John Norris6'5"N/ACSo.Bangor, ME, U.S.Bangor HS34Italo Ablondi6'0"N/AGSr.New York, NY, U.S.Stuyvesant HS35Frank Alagia6'1"N/AFSr.New York, NY, U.S.Andrew Jackson HS

1949–50 schedule and results SourcesThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1940s Seasonssports-reference.com 1949-50 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 60.

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 the December 9, 1949, game against the New York Athletic Club therefore counted as part of Georgetowns won-loss record for 1949-50. 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.

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References