Hoyas tour USS Bataan

This is a press release

Georgetown Men's Basketball Team Tours USS Bataan

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University men's basketball team arrived at Naval Station Mayport just before sunset on Wednesday evening and had their first chance to walk aboard the USS Bataan in Jacksonville, Fla. on Thursday morning as the Hoyas prepare for the Navy-Marine Corps Classic.

The Hoyas will open the 2012-13 season in a way unlike any other season on Friday, Nov. 9, tipping off against No. 10 Florida in the Navy-Marine Corps Classic. The game will be shown live on NBC Sports Network, with Tom Hammond calling the play-by-play, Stan Van Gundy serving as the color analyst and Carolyn Manno on sidelines. Liam McHugh will serve as the studio host along with Stacey King.

On Thursday, however, the Hoyas had a chance to tour the warship, which is docked in Naval Station Mayport after serving in the Middle East.

Arriving at Naval Station Mayport around 10 a.m. Head Coach John Thompson III and the Hoyas were welcomed by Captain Erik M. Ross, the Commanding Office of the USS Bataan. The team then walked up two levels to the main deck of the ship, escorted by former Navy men's basketball players Romeo Garcia and Greg Brown, and was able to get their first of the court.

Following the tour of the Bataan, the members of the Georgetown and Florida teams participated in a welcome luncheon, with addresses from Alvin Brown, the major of Jacksonville, and Secretary of the Navy, Ray Maebus.

"It's a great honor to be here," Head Coach John Thompson III said. "It's not about Georgetown, it's not about Florida, it's about the chance to play for and play in front of the members of the Navy and the Marine Corps who do so much to protect our country. As an institution, it's a great honor to be here."

The USS Bataan memorializes the valiant resistance of American and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula in the dawning days of World War II.