GEORGETOWN ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME

A three sport letterman in high school, basketball may have been the least of Mike Petrosky's athletic pursuits. Over his years at Georgetown, however, Petrosky grew into one of the decade's best big men.

Contemporary photos place Petrosky at 6-4, which for the 1930's was still a tall order. Petrosky adapted well to the pivot, and was capable of both offensive as well as defensive heroics. In a January 1936 overtime game versus Pitt, Petrosky scored the winning basket with under a minute to play and successfully defended Pitt's last chance attempt at a second overtime. Later in the season, Petrosky successfully battled NYU all-American center Mort (King Kong) Klein to preserve the Hoyas' major upset of the former #1-ranked Violet. Although he led the team in scoring in just one game, Petrosky finished third in scoring and was elected captain by his teammates for the 1936-37 season.

For 1936-37, Petrosky's defensive skills were well known around the East--without a true home court of its own, Georgetown played all but five games on the road. With big games over Temple and Maryland, Petrosky was named first team all-conference as the Hoyas won nine of 17 games--only the second winning season in the past seven.

Petrosky's scoring picked up in his senior year, leading the team in conference scoring and finishing three points behind Joe Murphy for the overall scoring crown. Rebounds were not kept as a statistic in this era, but it is likely that Petrosky was one of the best. Petrosky was selected all-conference for a second year in 1938 despite a 7-11 finish for the Hoyas.

A three sport athlete, Petrosky played two seasons as a tackle for the football team, but passed on a third year to focus on baseball and basketball. His nine wins for the baseball team in 1937 remain a school record, but is even more remarkable when reviewing the overall record of the 1937 team: 10-0. Petrosky started --and won-- all but one game for the the entire season, an abbreviated season which started a few weeks after Petrosky ended his basketball season.

Mike Petrosky was enshrined in 1964 to the Georgetown University Athletic Hall of Fame for his contributions to baseball, but his name reads "Petroskey". As a family member relayed to this site years later, Petrosky added the "e" after his junior year in response to prejudice against Russian surnames--"Petroskey", it was suggested to him, would sound more Polish. Years after college, he dropped the "e", but many Georgetown citations maintain the misspelling, including the Hall of Fame citation itself.