Nov. 29, 2008

OSC Day 3: From Wisemiller’s to the Milkhouse…Where have you gone Eric “Sleepy” Floyd?

On Thanksgiving Day I told my family that it was virtually impossible for Georgetown and Maryland to play each other in the Old Spice Classic.  I was taking a 9:45 PM flight that night to Orlando and the Gaylord Palms, and I was convinced that we would never play the Terrapins in the tournament.  That shows you how much I know!  I had not even considered that we could both win on Thanksgiving Day; both lose on Friday, and then face each other on Sunday for third place in the tournament.  My brother Richard, a Maryland alumnus but a faithful Georgetown Hoya Hoop Club member and season ticket holder, was correct when he told me that we may end up playing each other.  It has been an exciting tournament with some really good teams, and Maryland really shocked the large contingent of MSU fans here by beating the 5^th ranked Spartans on Thanksgiving Day.  It goes to show you that in one game anything can happen, and that Gary Williams often does his best coaching jobs when least expected.

It seems like only yesterday that I moved into 4^th Loyola which is now called LXR.  I had a little refrigerator that my parents bought me, and I was looking for a place to buy milk, etc.  I found it next door at one of my still favorite hangouts: Wisemiller’s.  I still remember one of the first Georgetown basketball players I met as a student was in Wisemiller’s, and that was Eric Floyd a skinny 6 foot 4and1/2 inch kid from Gastonia, North Carolina.  “Sleepy” was not a heavily recruited player and was recommended to coach John Thompson, Jr. by then UNC head coach Dean Smith.  Eric got his nickname on the baseball field where people thought he looked like he was asleep in the outfield.  My fellow classmate, and Hoyas Unlimited President Peter Farrell mentioned to me on the way home from the Jacksonville game that Sleepy was the first person he met at Georgetown.  The picture I have included of myself with Sleepy and former players Mike Hancock, and Felix Yeoman is from the 100^th anniversary of Georgetown Basketball, where Sleepy received the second most votes for the 100^th anniversary—second only to Patrick Ewing. 

On the eve of our third place showdown with Maryland, I can still vividly remember how 30 years ago on November 28, 1978 at one of my first Georgetown basketball home games; we faced the heavily favored Maryland Terrapins of the ACC.  The Big East conference had not been formed yet.  We had a good team led by former Dunbar H.S. stars Craig Shelton and John Duren but Maryland was the favorite.  In my mind it was the coming out party for Eric “Sleepy” Floyd who torched the Terps with his outside shooting.  Indeed as John Hawkes would say, “Sleepy had the Swagga!”  You would often see him walk around campus or even out on the court with that slow deliberate walk that could send chills to the hearts of opponents.  In my sophomore year we played Maryland again on December 5, 1979 in the pit that was the DC Starplex.  Maryland was really flying high at that time at the top of the ACC with superstars Albert King, Buck Williams, and a 6 ft 7 inch scoring machine from Baltimore, shooting guard Ernest Graham who had tortured the ACC at the end of the 1978-79 season.  The Washington Post was confident that the result would be different this time.  However, Eric Floyd once again put on a great performance dominating Ernie Graham and the Maryland Terrapins.  We would later defeat Maryland that year in the NCAA tournament on our way to the Elite Eight.  Indeed Eric Floyd was living the Hoya Basketball dream coming from relative anonymity in Gastonia, N.C. to Georgetown.  He went on to be a first team All-America, our leading Georgetown career scorer, and throwing the alley-oop to Patrick Ewing in the NCAA Final Game in the New Orleans Superdome.  He would later become an NBA All-Star.  As many of us know, his career scoring mark is especially impressive when you consider we did not have a shot clock then or the three point line.  Indeed I would argue that “Sleepy” was the greatest pure shooter in Georgetown history!  My friends from Syracuse and upstate New York still have nightmares about Eric Floyd knocking down two free throws to close Manley Field House!

Although, the Hoyas loss to Tennessee was disappointing, I do believe it provided a good teaching opportunity for JT III and his staff.  As Omar Wattad scored a career high of nine points on 3-3 shooting from the 3-point line, I could sense a smile from JT III and the coaching staff that we were in the midst of a close game against a highly ranked opponent on a neutral court.  We still need to improve on our turnovers and rebounding, but there was an obvious improvement from the Wichita State game.  At times we rebounded well, and Chris Wright playing the point had zero turnovers.  As coach JT III would say we still need to figure things out.  DaJuan Summers had his moments where he drove aggressively to the basket throwing down some monster dunks.

As Red Auerbach would often say, “It is not who starts but who finishes.”  Our Hoyas are pointed towards March!  I hope all Hoya fans will either come to the game or watch on television and root for the Hoyas to defeat the Maryland Terrapins.  Like the song lyrics, “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?”  Whenever I think about us playing Maryland my thoughts go out to Eric “Sleepy” Floyd as the Hoya Nation watches.  BTW—I know that “Sleepy” told me at the 100^th anniversary that he has moved back to North Carolina from Texas.

A few days before Thanksgiving I was buying a Cheeseburger Madnus in Wisemiller’s as I have done many a late evening.  I remembered meeting Chris Wright, Austin Freeman, and Omar Wattad there about a year ago.  I was very proud to see the way these three sophomores were cheering and trying to get the fans into the Tennessee game.  Indeed all of our Hoya players are working very hard and want to win!  They have Heart and “Swagga!”

Also, I have started a Facebook Group for the Hoya Hoop Club to help keep you informed as to all news, activities, and events for the Hoya Hoop Club.  It is an open group so anyone can join.  If you are not yet on Facebook, you can just go to www.facebook.com to join. Please join as part of the Georgetown network and you will stay connected to the Georgetown community.  Once you have joined Facebook just enter “Hoya Hoop Club” on the Search Function and it will direct you to join that group.  In the meantime please cheer for the Hoyas tomorrow!

Old Spice Classic Day 4, Game 11

Georgetown Hoyas vs. Maryland Terrapins

Date: Sunday 30 November

Time: Appx. 5:30pm

TV: ESPN

Radio: ESPN980 or AM 570

We Are Georgetown!

Dr. Thomas A. Wong (C '82)

Proud Member of Generation Ewing