To a high school aged applicant, it is the oldest and largest Catholic college in Florida. With its distance learning programs, it serves over 14,000 students worldwide. Athletically, it offers 17 Division II sports and won the 2016 NCAA title in men's golf. To a generation of basketball fans of the 1980s and 1990's, its very name brings up one of the oddest intersectional series in college basketball of the time: "St. Leo".

From 1973 to 1997, Georgetown University met Saint Leo College (then known as the Monarchs) 16 times and won every time, by an average of 39 points and, in its final three meetings, by an average of 54. With its green and gold jerseys, they were a throwback to the Washington Generals, an exhibition basketball team that were regularly thumped by the Harlem Globetrotters from 1952 to 1995. More than one basketball fan nationwide perused a box score from their hometown paper in the 1980s and 1990s and asked themselves why a team like Georgetown was playing this little known school.

As with many things in the John Thompson era, the big coach was big on respect, and found it in a small college program an hour outside Tampa, FL.


The history of St. Leo itself is a winding one. Edmund Dunne, a former chief justice of the Arizona territory, deeded a portion of 100,000 acres he had acquired in western Florida to the Benedictine Monks to establish a Catholic presence in the county, which numbered only a few Catholics among just 4,249 inhabitants. Its Wikipedia page notes that " Over the years, the school went through a series of varying focuses and name changes: St. Leo's College initially, then St. Leo Military College (1890-1903), St. Leo College (1903-17), St. Leo College Preparatory School (1917-18), Saint Leo College (1918-20), St. Leo College High School (1920-23), St. Leo Academy (1923-27), Benedictine High School (1927-29), [and] Saint Leo College Preparatory School (1929-64)." In 1959, a four year college of the same name was reconstituted.

St. Leo added intercollegiate athletics in 1965. One year later, it hired its first full time athletics employee, Norm Kaye. Like many "snowbirds" common to Florida, Kaye's road to the Sunshine started in colder climates: a native of the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago's South Side, he attended Northern Illinois and served as head basketball coach at Lincoln (IL) College, leading that school to its first ever NJCAA basketball tournament invitation in 1962. Four years later, he moved his family to Florida, where he wore a number of hats in his early years at the school: athletic director, baseball coach, dean of student affairs, and director of financial aid. In 1969, he began a 13 year career as the school's head basketball coach. In comparison to his junior college teams, the Monarchs struggled to compete in his first few seasons, going 43-49 in four seasons. At a 45 minute drive from Tampa, St. Leo was not well known and tended to recruit mostly among Catholic schools in Florida, but little else. The team did not travel outside Florida for any athletic competition.

About 880 miles north in Washington, second year basketball coach John Thompson was looking to revise a schedule that was heavy opponents in the Northeast. While not confirmed, it is likely that a meeting between Thompson and Kaye at the 1973 NCAA coaches convention in St. Louis may have opened the door to a series. When Thompson asked Kaye if he was interested in a game in Washington, Kaye accepted. And with outreach to Thompson's former assistant coach at Providence, Kaye then proposed a game to follow with Dave Gavitt's team at Providence College.

(Coming off its 1973 Final Four appearance, Kaye may have had second thoughts about playing the Friars. The game was not scheduled.)

It's often been asked why Thompson sought out St. Leo in the first place. From his first season at Georgetown, he knew what he needed: wins. Thirteen of his 26 games in 1972-73 were on the road, where the Hoyas finished 3-9 versus a home mark of 9-4. With a record 17 home games scheduled the following season, he dropped a scheduled opening game at St. Francis (PA) for this new and unfamiliar opponent, who arrived at McDonough Gymnasium after a two day bus ride up Interstate 95 on November 30, 1973.

The Monarchs returned its core from a 12-13 season in 1972-73 and were well coached. Taking advantage of the Hoyas' youth and inexperience, the Monarchs led through much of the game and held a 46-36 lead with 10 minutes to play before a concerned crowd of 3,400 at McDonough. John Thompson had other concerns that evening: his wife, Gwen, had been admitted that afternoon to Georgetown University Hospital for an appendectomy, but sophomore Billy Lynn rallied the team with 14 second half points to lead the Hoyas to a narrow 66-58 win.

Thompson skipped the post-game pleasantries to head back to the hospital. In a 2020 interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Kaye recalled another Georgetown figure greeting him after the game.

"We had 'em by about maybe 10 down with 10 [minutes] to go, and we actually got some bad calls," Kaye recalled. "So I'm in the locker room after the game, and this guy comes up and he's got a collar on. He says, 'Coach, I just want to tell you, you have the greatest, most respectful, hard-working kids that I've seen on this court.' I didn't know who he was, so I said, 'Okay, thank you.'"

It was Rev. Robert Henle, S.J., the president of Georgetown University.

"A few days later, Kaye got a call from Georgetown's athletic director, Frank Rienzo," wrote the paper. "[Rienzo] said, 'I got a call from [Henle] and he said, 'I want Saint Leo on the schedule every year.' And that's how it happened."

Whether it was Henle or, more likely, Thompson who extended the offer, Kaye and the Monarchs were invited back, though the schools actually played just once between 1974 and 1979. No game in the remaining series would be as close again.


Over the next 13 games, Georgetown was nationally ranked in each of them. St. Leo's, now playing in the Division II Sunshine State Conference, would accept a guarantee of up to $20,000 a game to play the Hoyas in December, but the losses would inevitably follow. On Dec. 8, 1979, the Hoyas won by 49, 117-68, three points short of the school record for most points in a game. A year later, the final was 108-76, behind an school record 11 for 11 shooting display from junior guard Eric Floyd.

Kaye retired as head coach in 1980 with a cumulative mark of 93-169, but the losses continued. By 1982, the Monarchs were held to just 39 points in a 46 point rout, 86-37. When reporters asked why Georgetown kept scheduling the Monarchs, Thompson would hear none of it. The Monarchs helped his team get better, the game offered time for reserves to see action, and perhaps just as importantly, Thompson could schedule anyone he wanted, and St. Leo was a visible example of it.

One of the more memorable games was seen on Dec. 6, 1986, a day after Georgetown cancelled a planned visit to play Arizona State. Having opened the season with three unremarkable NAIA opponents and and a 44 point win over Grambling State, a Saturday afternoon crowd of 4,514 at Capital Centre saw the Hoyas dominate the Monarchs as never before.

Led by 27 points and 10 rebounds by senior Reggie Williams, the Hoyas opened up the game with a run from outside and never looked back. Its 10 three pointers were a school record and Georgetown led by 34 at the half, 62-28. In past years, Thompson would turn the second half over to the bench and they would coast to the win, but in this case the bench was even more productive: Jaren Jackson (20 points), Dwayne Bryant (16 points, 10 assists), Anthony Allen (15 points, seven rebounds), Charles Smith (13 points) and little used Ben Gillery (10 points, six rebounds) shot a combined 26 for 38 (.684) in a 126-51 final that set team records for points scored and scoring margin; both of these records continue to this day.

By the late 1980s, St. Leo was accustomed to the results, but used the annual trips as a recruiting tool, an extended visit to the Nation's Capital, and even appeal to local students who might consider a college in Florida. In 1995, Thompson surprised many with a different offer for the Monarchs: he would travel to Florida to play them.

In what Thompson called a holiday vacation for his team, Georgetown rescheduled a pending home game with Duquesne and its annual game with St. Leo to the 8,000 seat Lakeland Civic Center, located 30 miles from the St. Leo campus. The games were not well attended, each drawing under 2,500, but the Thursday audience nearly witnessed a major upset when Duquesne, en route to a 9-18 season, tied the #6 Hoyas late in the game and missed a game tying shot at the end, 88-86, behind 30 points from senior Tom Pipkins.

Thompson wasn't happy and neither was the team, who took it out on the homestanding Monarchs two nights later, 123-65.

On December 20, 1997, with students heading home for the Christmas holidays, an unranked Georgetown team played its last game with St. Leo: a 101-47 win before a season low 1,189 at McDonough Gym. The series was not renewed after John Thompson resigned, and perhaps both schools simply felt the series had met its end. It had become a joke of sorts, and in an era where strength of schedule was more important to Division I teams, it was not one which future Georgetown coaches would consider.

Now known as the Lions, St. Leo has played seven Division I opponents since 2006, according to its web site. Its record is 0-7.

For his part, Thompson never forgot the school. In 2015, discussing Georgetown's ongoing efforts to schedule Maryland, Thompson offered this opinion: "People come up to me like I'm going to be mad that they're going to play. I don't give a damn, I'm going to tell you that right now...If you want to do it, you go ahead and do it. But give me St. Leo's."