Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Green Returns Hoops Traditions to Georgetown

Jeff Green has never seen “The Exorcist.”

For any Georgetown student not to have seen the thriller shown every Halloween in Gaston Hall borders on unacceptable, but it is particularly objectionable in the case of Green. The junior forward is a self-professed horror film aficionado, yet he has never seen the classic that was filmed on his very own campus.

“That’s one movie I have not seen,” he admits, defending himself by quickly adding, “I know where the stairs are though.”

Knowing where the Exorcist stairs are is small consolation for not having watched Fr. Karras tumble down them, but that’s not the only Georgetown tradition the 6-foot-9 forward has not kept up with. Aside from missing “The Exorcist,” Green has never jumped into the Dahlgren Quad fountain.

“No, I’m not getting in that,” Green says. “But the other day I saw people in there. Someone put soap in the fountain and I saw people all playing in the fountain, but that is something I do not do. I was taught better than that.”

Perhaps most surprisingly, if someone were to ask him “How long’s it been?” he would not know the proper response.

“I just clap and just hum. I don’t know the words,” he says about the Georgetown fight song. “I’ll read them, but I don’t know them.”

In some ways the all-American from nearby Hyattsville, Md., can be excused from missing out on Georgetown’s most well-known traditions. Although he prides himself on being a regular student, it is probably better that he has not gone exploring in the hidden tunnels like the rest of the undergrads.

“I don’t do that kind of thing,” Green says. “That type of stuff scares me. I don’t like doing scary things like that because I don’t know what’s in the tunnels so I am not going to go in there.”

After all, he has been pretty busy restoring another tradition on the Hilltop these past three years: Hoya Paranoia.

Although Green still has a lot to complete on the list of Georgetown traditions, his to-do list on the hardwood is much shorter. As one of the most successful players ever to wear the blue and gray, he says he has accomplished most of his basketball goals, even the ones he thought were a stretch just three short years ago when he arrived on the Hilltop.

“I’ve pretty much completed three-fourths of my list,” he says, adding that being named Big East player of the year, winning the Big East title and reaching the Final Four – goals that he has all accomplished – were each on his to-do list.

Green is quick to point out there is one glaring omission from his completed list: a national championship.

“That’s on the top of the list, one of the big ones,” he says.

The only statistics-related goal on his list that he has yet to complete is to collect a triple-double. Green usually professes not to care about his stats – helping his team win does not necessarily correspond to putting up big numbers, he says – but he likes the triple-double because it demonstrates his versatility.

“Yep, I need a triple-double,” Green says. “I came close a couple of times. I think I was the closest in the Villanova game this past year when I had eight blocks.”

That was in fact Green’s best attempt at a triple-double – his 19 point, nine rebound and eight block performance on Feb.17. If he does collect a triple-double he will be only the second Hoya ever to do so – Alonzo Mourning (CAS ’92) has the only one.

Though NBA scouts are drooling over his versatility and unselfish play, Green often reminds casual fans that he is a full-time student, something his classmates fail to appreciate at times. On the weekends, most people may know Green for his performance in Verizon Center, but during the week his professors expect the same kind of performance in Lauinger Library.

“I still have to do work and go to class every day,” he says. “I was in the library the last month of school probably every day. People would come up to me, be like `Why are you in the library? You’re Jeff Green and blah, blah, blah.’ But I’m still a student here and I still have to pass my classes. We missed a lot of class because of the tournament, but I still have to do my work.”

The NBA scouts may win out and convince Green to leave the Hilltop for richer pastures in just a few weeks. For now, however, Green is enjoying his time as a regular student on summer break.

And, if he does stay for his senior year, Green will be able to graduate according to campus tradition: he has never stepped on the seal.

“I actually went through there two days in a row this past week,” Green says with a smile. “I was walking and some guy was walking in front of me and I followed him right around the seal. That is one thing I was told not to do so I don’t do that. So I’ve never done that yet.”

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