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.
2010–11 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team
Second in the United States in team field-goal percentage at 50.8 percent, the Hoyas next traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to face No. 8 Villanova at the Wells Fargo Center. Georgetown fell behind the Wildcats early, trailing 10-5 with 16:24 to play in the first half, but then came back to post a 32-26 lead at halftime. The Hoyas more or less held that lead until the Wildcats began a surge with 2:53 to play and closed to only a 61-60 deficit with 2:08 left. The Hoyas then got the ball to Austin Freeman repeatedly; he made a two-point layup to increase Georgetown's lead to 63-60 with 1:39 left, then, after Villanova sophomore guard Maalik Wayns made two free throws, hit a two-point jumper to extend Georgetown's lead to 65-62. After two more Wayns free throws, a dunk by Nate Lubick, and a layup by Wayns made the score Georgetown 67 Villanova 66, Freeman sank two free throws to secure a 69-66 upset victory for the Hoyas. Freeman went 8-for-8 in free throws and scored 10 of Georgetown's last 12 points on the way to a 30-point game, while Jason Clark scored 10 points, and Julian Vaughn went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line in a 9-point performance.