Georgetown University Standout NBA Centers

 Georgetown University is a top tier school located in Washington D.C. that boasts celebrity alumni that range from standout NBA Centers like Patrick Ewing to 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton.
Although predominately filled with a student body interested in political ambitions the Georgetown Hoyas basketball team has consistently sent a number of student athletes on to stardom in the NBA (National Basketball Association). While standout guards like MVP (Most Valuable Player) Allen Iverson are occasionally associated with Georgetown University it is the seven foot centers that have had the most influence in terms of propping up the standing of the university as an important feeder to the NBA.

Pat Ewing

Patrick Ewing, a dominate college player and Hall of Fame NBA star for the New York Knicks, made an immediate splash when the ferrous seven foot center was taken with the number one overall pick in the 1985 draft. For devout Knicks fans they felt as if they had literally won the lottery when they were awarded the opportunity to select Patrick Ewing with the top pick in the draft. The ability of the Knicks to choose Ewing was in fact the result of a lottery system between all of the teams that had failed to make the playoffs the year before. The lottery system for the NBA draft is still in effect today roughly twenty five years after first being introduced the year Patrick Ewing was picked out of Georgetown. While the NBA lottery weighs the probability in favor of the teams with the worst records from the previous season receiving the top picks the purpose is to curtail intentional losses during the final stretch of the season for teams mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. In a sport where one key player can immediately turn around a franchise, allegations of passive play and flat out throwing of games were not uncommon. The NBA lottery has helped to curtail those allegations.

Dikembe Mutombo

  The early 1990s saw two dominate Georgetown University centers enter the league in consecutive years. While centers Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning both wore the Georgetown blue and gray the two men grew up in opposite parts of the world. Eventual NBA champion Alonzo Mourning, Jr. (nicknamed Zo) grew up and played high school basketball in the Chesapeake, Virginia city that he was born in. By contrast the seven foot two inch Dikembe hails from the country formerly known as Zaire that is currently referred to as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Upon attending Georgetown University Mutombo initially intended to pursue becoming a doctor before serving as a summer intern for both the United States Congress and the World Bank. In 1991, the year Mutombo was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the fourth overall pick, he graduated with a degree in diplomacy and linguistics. A year after Mutombo was drafted into the NBA Alonzo Mourning would follow as he was selected with the number two pick by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1992 draft.

 The most recent installment in the Georgetown NBA center lineage is 2008 first round pick Roy Hibbert. This seven foot two center born in 1986 is just now developing his early career with the Indiana Pacers. Whether or not Hibbert will be able to live up to the high standards established by previous Georgetown centers remains to be seen. The one thing that is certain though is that while Roy Hibbert may currently have the most potential to become the next Georgetown University standout NBA Center he will without question not be the last great big man to continue on the proud tradition.

Roy Hibbert

All of the big names mentioned in this article make excellent Georgetown University wallpaper for the computer background of any fan. Bill's website has great pictures of hoops stars and other Hoya images that are great Georgetown University background wallpaper.