Georgetown Hoyas
The University admits that the precise origin of the term "Hoya" is unknown. At some point before 1893, and likely before 1891, students versed in classical languages combined the Greek "hoia" or "hoya", meaning "what" or "such", and the Latin "saxa" to form "Hoya Saxa!", or "What Rocks!" This cheer may either refer to the stalwart defense of the football team, or to the baseball team, which was nicknamed the "Stonewalls", or to the actual stone wall that surrounds the campus. Father William McFadden, S.J., campus Jesuit and the team's in-house announcer at the Capital One Arena, has disputed the Greek and Latin origin, suggesting the classical words were retroactively applied to a nonsensical cheer.
After World War I, the term "Hoya" was increasingly used on campus, including for the newspaper and the school mascot. In 1920, students began publishing the campus's first sports newspaper under the name "The Hoya", after successfully petitioning the Dean of the College to use it instead of the proposed name, "The Hilltopper". "Hilltoppers" was also a name sometimes used for the sports teams. By the fall of 1928, the newspaper had taken to referring to the sports teams as the Hoyas. This was influenced by a popular half time show at football games, where the mascot, a dog nicknamed "Hoya," would entertain fans.
2009–10 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team
Georgetown advanced to the semi-finals to meet fifth-seeded Marquette, another team that had beaten the Hoyas in their only regular-season meeting. The Hoyas scored on their first six field goal attempts and quickly pulled ahead to a 15–4 lead, but the Golden Eagles′ offense came alive and went on a 15–5 run that tied the game at 29–29. Georgetown led 37–34 at halftime and 56–51 with 10:48 left in the game, but after that the Hoyas went on a decisive 14–1 run that stretched their lead to 70–53. The Hoyas cruised to an 80–57 victory, dealing the Golden Eagles their first double-digit loss of the season. Greg Monroe had one of the best all-around performances of his college career with another double-double (23 points and 13 rebounds) and seven assists, while Chris Wright and Jason Clark each scored 15 points and Austin Freeman added 12 points and eight rebounds.