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.
2011–12 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team
With an overall record of 13-1 and 3-0 in the Big East, Georgetown followed the win over Marquette with eight straight games against unranked teams, its longest stretch without a ranked opponent since the 2007–08 season. It started with the Hoyas′ only back-to-back losses all season; the first, at West Virginia, ended Georgetown's winning streak at 11 games, and the second, against Cincinnati, was the Hoyas′ first home loss all season. A frightening incident took place in the Cincinnati game on January 9 when Bearcat freshman guard Ge'Lawn Guyn suffered a concussion in a collision with Greg Whittington, could not lift his legs, and had to be taken to a hospital, but he recovered quickly. Hollis Thompson led the Hoyas with 20 points at West Virginia and scored 14 against Cincinnati, Jason Clark finished with 10 points against the Mountaineers and 14 against the Bearcats, Henry Sims scored 10 points against both teams, and Markel Starks contributed 10 points in the Cincinnati game.