Georgetown Basketball: Allen Iverson Among the 15 Best Players in Hoyas History

Although Georgetown played in the 1943 NCAA title game, the program didn't really make an impression on the national stage until John Thompson Jr. took over as coach in 1972.

In the four decades since, the Hoyas have produced some of the best players in college and pro basketball history.

Although Georgetown has a well-earned reputation as a big-man factory, it’s hardly bereft of great perimeter talents. NBA legend Allen Iverson is only one of the outstanding guards to have worn a Hoya uniform.

Read on for more on AI and the rest of the 15 best players to grace the hardwood for Georgetown.

Although Jonathan Wallace is eighth in Georgetown history with 378 assists, it wasn’t his passing that opened the most eyes during his college career.

Wallace set Hoya records for three-point shooting in a season (.490) and career (.433) and treys made in a career (240).

Despite his impressive shooting touch, Wallace didn’t get much traction with NBA scouts. After a brief stint in the D-League, he headed to Europe, where he’s still playing.

Although he wasn’t an overpowering defender, Michael Jackson was one of the great floor leaders in Georgetown history.

Jackson, who ran the point for the 1984 national title winners, holds the single-season school record with 242 assists, and his career total of 671 dimes ranks third on the Hoyas’ all-time list.

Drafted by the Knicks, Jackson was waived and picked up by Sacramento. He wasn’t awful (3.1 assists a game as a reserve), but he played just 89 games total over three NBA seasons.

Though he didn’t score many points, Dikembe Mutombo was actually the most accurate shooter in Georgetown history, recording eye-popping field goal percentages of .709 for a season and .643 for his career.

He was more memorable as a rebounder, ranking seventh in school history with 823 career boards despite sharing the floor with Alonzo Mourning.

After his rookie season in Denver, Mutombo didn’t score much as a pro either, but he became one of the great shot-blockers in NBA history.

He led the league in blocks for five straight seasons with the Nuggets and Hawks, and his 3,289 career rejections are second in NBA history.

Roy Hibbert was never the kind of pure post scorer his 7’2”, 278-pound frame would suggest, but other aspects of his game did more to live up to his prodigious size.

Harrington stands eighth in Hoya history with 808 rebounds and third with 259 blocks.

Initially, Hibbert struggled to get his bearings in Indiana’s perimeter-oriented offense, but he’s developing into a fine NBA center.

In his third year in the league (2010-11), he averaged 12.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.

At 6'8", Merlin Wilson was the first of the great rebounders nurtured by then-rookie coach John Thompson Jr.

Wilson stands second in Georgetown history in both career boards (1,230) and rebounding average (11.4).

Wilson had been hampered by back problems during his time at Georgetown, a fact that probably scared off many NBA teams. Though he was drafted by Washington, he never played in the league.

Image from hoyabasketball.com

A terrific point guard on post-driven teams, Joey Brown didn’t get much press at Georgetown.

His production, however, was hardly to blame, as he finished with 677 assists (second in school history) and 236 steals (third).

As accomplished as Brown was in college, there’s not much room in the NBA for 5'10" guards. He went undrafted and never played in the league.

Image from hoyabasketball.com

An elite defensive player even by Georgetown’s high standards, David Wingate was also a dangerous scorer at the college level.

Wingate, a key complementary player on the 1984 national champs, is sixth in Hoya history with 1,781 points and fifth with 209 steals.

In the NBA, Wingate’s scoring ability deserted him, but he was a valuable swingman as a defensive specialist.

He put up his best numbers with the 76ers (who drafted him), but did the most winning in Seattle, where he was a role player on the Sonics’ Western Conference champs in 1995-96.

Even in the crowded pool of Georgetown post players, Mike Sweetney stands out for his ability to contribute on both ends of the floor.

Sweetney’s career scoring average of 18.2 points a game is second in Hoya history, and he also recorded 887 rebounds (fifth) and 180 blocks (sixth).

Sweetney was a serviceable backup in the NBA, averaging as many as 5.4 rebounds a game for the Knicks and Bulls.

With a listed playing weight of 275 pounds on a 6'8" frame, though, he struggled to stay in shape and was out of the league after just four seasons.

The best small forward in Georgetown history, Reggie Williams became the go-to scoring option after Patrick Ewing’s graduation.

Williams, a standout freshman on the 1984 national title team, finished with 2,117 points (third in school history, right behind Ewing) along with 886 rebounds and 206 steals (both sixth).

Drafted by the Clippers, Williams didn’t really find his NBA footing until he landed in Denver. He spent nearly six seasons as a Nugget, averaging as many as 18.2 points and 1.8 steals a game.

Overshadowed only because of the Hall of Fame-caliber talent of his Hoya predecessors, Othella Harrington carved out a brilliant Georgetown career in his own right.

His 1,839 points, 983 rebounds and 201 blocks all rank in the Top Five in school history.

Harrington was mostly a reserve as a pro, but he was a solid post presence in that capacity (most successfully as a Knick).

In his brief stint as a Grizzlies starter, he averaged career highs of 13.1 points and 6.9 rebounds.

Largely overlooked thanks to his underperforming teams—the Hoyas made just one NCAA tournament, a Sweet 16 finish, in his career—Kevin Braswell was the best pure point guard in Georgetown history.

Braswell holds the school records for both assists (695) and steals (349) in a career.

Like so many great college point guards, Braswell’s pro prospects were torpedoed by his unreliable jump shot. He went undrafted and never played in the NBA.

Eric Floyd, better known as Sleepy, ranks 10th in Georgetown history with 355 career assists. He made his biggest mark, though, with his shot, scoring a Hoya record 2,304 points.

Floyd became a first-class NBA combo guard, posting career highs of 19.5 points and 10.3 assists per game.

He was most effective as a Warrior and Rocket, setting an NBA playoff record with the former team by scoring 29 points in a quarter against the Lakers.

The spiritual if not immediate successor to Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning would be the best center in the history of almost any school that didn’t feature Ewing.

Mourning stands fourth in program history with 2,001 points, third with 1,032 rebounds and second with 453 blocks.

Mourning made seven All-Star teams between the Hornets and Heat in a brilliant NBA career.

He led the league in blocks twice, winning Defensive Player of the Year both times, and posted averages of 17.1 points and 8.5 rebounds over 15 NBA seasons.

Although he only spent two seasons with the Hoyas, Allen Iverson was one of the most overpowering players the team has ever seen.

Iverson holds the single-season records for points (25 per game) and steals (124), and in just two seasons he cracked the career Top 20 in points, steals and assists.

The Answer lived up to his promise as a pro, winning four scoring titles, three consecutive steals titles and an MVP award.

He also led the unheralded 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals, averaging 32.9 points and 6.1 assists a game in that season’s playoffs.

The definitive Hoya, and the man who set the standard for one of the great post traditions in college basketball, Patrick Ewing led Georgetown to three national championship games in his four seasons (winning in 1984).

His career numbers are staggering: 2,184 points (second in school history), 1,316 rebounds (first) and 493 blocks (first, though the stat wasn’t officially kept by the NCAA at the time).

Ewing never managed to win a title in his superlative New York Knicks career, but he did make seven All-NBA teams.

He averaged 21 points, 9.8 boards and 2.4 blocks a game over 17 NBA seasons.