While the 2010 Campus Plan struggles through the regulatory process, one project from its predecessor is close to being realized. Final plans for a new practice facility for varsity athletics, first approved as an amendment to the 2000 Campus Plan in October 2007, will be submitted to the various regulatory boards over the coming months.

The Athletic Training Facility (also called the Intercollegiate Athletic Center) was last presented to the Old Georgetown Board in October 2011. (The OGB must approve the architectural design of buildings within the Georgetown neighborhood.) The board sent the plans back for modification, but administrators are hopeful that revisions incorporating the OGB’s feedback will be approved.

If all goes to plan, the ATF will go before the city Zoning Commission on April 26 to receive final approval. While the Zoning Commission has proved to be a quagmire for the 2010 Campus Plan, the process for the ATF should be smoother because its prior approval.

“This is a modification of a fully-approved building, so it’s not a full-blown-out hearing,” Vice President for Public Affairs Erik Smulson said. “It’s more of a bridge process.”

Since October, small changes have been made to the design of the building, which will be built on the site of the tennis courts adjacent to McDonough Arena. One of the OGB’s main concerns last fall was that the new building would obstruct the facade of McDonough, so the orientation of the ATF has been changed and a glass rotunda has been added to connect the old and new athletic facilities.

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The University Athletic Department announced today that Terri Williams-Flournoy, coach of the Georgetown University women’s basketball team, will assistant coach for the US women’s basketball team at the 2011 World University Games. She joins four-time head coach Bill Fennelly of Iowa State University and fellow assistant and former teammate Suzie McConnell-Serio of Duquesne University in working to defend the USA’s 2009 gold medal at the women’s university basketball competition on August 14-21 in Shenzhen, China.

“I know we will have a great staff with Suzie and Terri,” Fennelly said in the University press release. “I think they are two of the best young coaches in the country, and they are even better people. Our athletes are really going to enjoy working with them.”

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Most college basketball knows of the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry, and like any rivalry it is not surprising to hear back-and-forth accusations.

In the latest case, an unofficial SU athletics blog, Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician, claims “Georgetown scared of Syracuse fans, not selling tickets to SU game.”

Individual tickets to the February 26^th game are currently on sale only for Georgetown students and alumni.

SU fans bemoaned that the only way for them to get tickets to the game—outside of the limited allotment that each school gets at away games—is to pay a $25 donation to Georgetown Athletics and then buy a mini ticket plan that includes multiple weekend games.

Mex Carey, sports information director for Georgetown Athletics, notes that this plan has been in place since the schedule was released in October.

“There was an overwhelming demand from Georgetown season ticket holders, donors and other Hoya fans.  Because of this, the athletics department decided that individual game tickets for Syracuse would not be made available to the public,” Carey wrote in an email to Vox.

The game—which has been labeled as Senior Day—is also scheduled to be a “Gray Out” game similar to the game against Duke last year.

Photo: Flickr user petesolecki

After a thrilling overtime win on Tuesday, the Hoyas (8-0) showed its versatility on Saturday during a 68-51 beatdown against Utah State (5-2).

While Georgetown thrived off of its three-point shooting earlier this season, the team shot a paltry 2 for 9 from behind the arc against the Aggies.

“They did a terrific job at taking away threes,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “We didn’t get that many open looks. What our team has done and did today was do a good job of taking what the defense gives you, we don’t have to make threes to win games.”

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If you watched a Georgetown team play this weekend, odds are you saw some Hoyas lay a beatdown on their opponents. And trust us, it was something special; Sports Info Director Mex Carey dug through the records, learning that this is the first time five fall teams won games over a two-day span since 2006. Let’s get to the recaps:

• The football team won a game! The football team won a game! THE FOOTBALL TEAM WON A GAME!
• On Monday, junior forward Samantha Baker’s overtime goal against Fairfield pushed the 22nd-ranked women’s soccer team to its sixth straight win. (Earlier that weekend, the Hoyas also shut out George Mason.) The team’s undefeated start to the season is the longest in the program’s history.
• The men’s soccer team got in on the fun too, thanks to junior forward Uche Onyeador’s pair of game-winning goals against Northeastern and Michigan State. The team now stands at 2-0.
• Georgetown field hockey improved to 3-0 for the first time ever, only to drop Sunday’s game against Temple.
• Although the volleyball team’s weekend was bookended by losses to Bradley and Maryland, they pulled out a win against Fordham on Saturday.

Photo: Sports Info (Rafael Suanes)

Ted Leonsis (COL ’77), the owner of the Verizon Center, had a few words about the building’s new banner, which features senior guard Chris Wright.

“We want to support Georgetown basketball, too. They are tenants in the building,” Leonsis wrote on his blog. “I am on the board of directors of Georgetown and I am an alumnus of the College. Hence we mention Hoya basketball.”

The banner is a part of the “101 new improvements in 101 days” campaign Leonsis launched after purchasing the Verizon Center earlier this year.

Leonsis also owns three D.C. teams: the Wizards, the Capitals, and the Mystics.

Photo: Casual Hoya

This week, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) named sophomore guard Sugar Rodgers to its “Wade Watch” preseason list.

Rodgers is one of the 25 players expected to compete for the Wade Trophy, which is given to the athlete who best embodies “game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on their team and overall playing ability.”

The honor should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Rodgers’ game. In her freshman year, she averaged 17.6 points per game on her way to Honorable Mention AP All-American, First Team All-Big East, and Big East Freshman of the Year honors.

Rodgers is joined on the “Wade Watch” list by three of her Big East rivals: reigning player of the year Maya Moore, her UConn teammate Tiffany Hayes, and Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins.

After the most successful season in program history, which included a 13-3 conference record and a win in the NCAA tournament, Georgetown’s women’s basketball team has kept itself busy. Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy signed a contract extension until the 2014-2015 season, and D.C. All-Met guard Taylor Brown recently committed to the program.

But, a plea to the athletic department: Don’t stop giving away those Chipotle gift cards at women’s basketball games if the team gets popular. (We survive on those burritos.)

If you ever find yourself in Chicago, think twice before approaching a stranger in a Hoyas hat—you might be confused for a gang member.

Georgetown recently made Complex‘s list of the ten most gang-affiliated hats in sports. According to Complex, the Chicago-area Gangster Disciples (and, by extension, the Folk Nation gang alliance) adopted Georgetown apparel as its unofficial uniform.

Now, why would a Chicago gang member wear a Georgetown hat? Because the odd pairing honors Gangster Disciples founder Larry Hoover, with “Hoya” standing in as an acronym for “Hoover’s On Your Ass.”

Vox feels out of touch—for years, we thought that “Hoya Saxa” was just a dorky inside joke from the 19th century. Who knew that it was also a threatening homage to a man with a life sentence?

Even one of Georgetown’s all-time greatest football players can’t win ‘em all.

Former all-conference quarterback J.J. Mont was recently indicted on obstruction charges by a federal court, according to the Washington Examiner.

During an grand jury investigation of the Seed Faith International Church, a controversial Maryland-based place of worship that mentors drug and alcohol addicts, Mont allegedly provided authorities with fake financial documents. Mont, who still owns passing and scoring records at Georgetown, works as the treasurer of Seed Faith, according to bankruptcy court records uncovered by the Examiner.

Robert Freeman, Seed Faith’s eccentric pastor who calls himself “Dr. Shine,” claims to cure drug and alcohol addictions through exorcism. After Seed Faith declared bankruptcy in March 2009, federal investigators began to look into the church’s assets—which included several luxury cars, such as a Bentley, a Maybach, and at least four Mercedes-Benzs—and Freeman’s role as pastor.

Mont, who was ordered by a judge to avoid contact with Freeman, is remembered at Georgetown for leading the Hoyas to a 9-2 record in both the 1998 and 1999 seasons on his way to offensive player of the year honors as a starting senior. (In it’s 100-plus year history, the football program has never won more than nine games in a season.)

In a 1999 profile, the Washington Post highlighted Mont’s “knack for numbers on and off the field.”

“Football has always been my dream,” Mont said at the time. “But if that doesn’t work out, I’m set.”

Earlier today, Director of Athletics Lee Reed named Jamie Holder as Georgetown’s new head coach of the swimming and diving program. Holder previously worked as an assistant coach of the Princeton’s mens’ swimming team for the last five seasons.

“I’m excited to work with the student-athletes and hit the ground running,” Holder said.

While at Princeton, Holder took part in a string of successes. The Tigers went 7-0 last season, bringing home the Ivy League Championship for the fourth time in five seasons. According CollegeSwimming.com, the Princeton had the nation’s 25th-best mens’ swimming and diving team last season. Georgetown was unranked.

Perhaps most importantly, Holder brings significant recruiting expertise to Georgetown. As Princeton’s main recruiter, he scouted prospective swimmers and divers exceptionally well; CollegeSwimming.com ranked Princeton’s incoming class of recruits as one of the five best in the nation.

Georgetown’s swimming and diving team is on the up-and-up itself. While breaking nine school records last season, the womens’ team had a dual-meet record of 10-2, the best in the school history. The mens’ team also broke five school records.

Holder replaces former head coach Steven Cartwright, who stepped down last spring. Cartwright, who served as head coach for three years, plans to attend the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia and study for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina.