GEORGETOWN, Ky. (FOX 56) — The Georgetown College men’s and women’s basketball teams bring some great energy at their home games at David-Reid Alumni Gym, with some potential renovations on the way to the historic venue.
There was great energy at Media Day as well, with both teams gathering for pictures and talking to the media about expectations for this upcoming season.
The men’s team always has high expectations under head coach Chris Briggs, entering his 13th season with two NAIA national championships at Georgetown in 2013 and 2019 and two NAIA national coach of the year awards to go with it.
A strong season for the Tigers was headlined by dominance on their home court, going 17-1 at home and 30-6 overall. But a loss in the Final Four out in Kansas City ended their season with heartbreak, and brings motivation for this year.
“When it first happens, it’s kind of devastating. And you’re upset, you know, you’re just you’re so close and didn’t get it done. But, you know, as time passes, you heal off that and you you reflect and, you know, know that you made a heck of a run. We’ve got so many guys back,” Briggs said.
“We just take our foot off the gas pedal all the time this year. We just got to make sure we stay on it, especially having a big time lead at half. But that doesn’t mean that. So yeah, just keeping our foot on the gas,” sophomore guard Tae Dozier said.
“Everybody’s going to fight everybody plays us hard, coach Briggs has been saying this for years like everybody plays hard no matter what. We’re going get everybody’s best game. You know, we just gotta keep playing, gotta finish games,” senior forward Kyran Jones said.
The women’s team is entering its 3rd season under head coach Jeff Nickel, who took over a three win team in 2021 and went 23-12 in his first season in 2021-22. They went 16-12 last season and bring back some returners this year.
“Winning, being organized, bringing in good players, getting them in a good system, but helping them love each other. And I think that’s one of the things we try to do. You know, love your teammates,” Nickel said.
“The turnaround last year, it definitely showed a lot of the progress that we’ve been working towards. And then I think it’s even going to flow into this year. I mean, we put in a lot of hard work over the summer,” junior guard Sophie Smith said.
“I do think we’ll be a lot faster. Our break looks a whole lot better, a lot more organized. We have a lot more speed this year. Everybody’s a lot stronger. So we’re definitely going to play a lot faster than we did last year,” sophomore guard Erin Toller said.
The Georgetown men’s team gets the season started on October 27 in an exhibition game at Rupp Arena against Kentucky. The women’s team begins on October 26 in a home game at 7 p.m. against Cincinnati-Clermont.
