another one of the n-c-double-a classic
rivalries was fought between two players
rather than two teams Patrick Ewing and
Hakeem Olajuwon were both major forces
for their respective schools throughout
their NCAA careers before they finally
collided in the n-c-double-a
championship in 1984 interestingly both
Ewing and Olajuwon grew up outside of
the United States Ewing excelled at
soccer and cricket while growing up in
Jamaica it was not until he came to the
US as a teenager that he would consider
basketball as his calling Olajuwon was
born and raised in Nigeria where he did
not begin playing basketball until he
was 15 years old in 1980 Olajuwon was
recruited by the University of Houston
and it was only at this time that he
emigrated to the u.s. from Nigeria in
the build-up to their matchup in the
1984 final then jr. Ewing with the Hoya
squad to a 34 and 3 season the
n-c-double-a final was not unfamiliar to
Ewing as he had made it there in his
freshman season where him and his Hoyas
lost to a North Carolina team led by
James Worthy and Michael Jordan
however the finals were not uncommon to
Olajuwon either one year earlier as a
sophomore the University of Houston had
made it to the big game before losing to
North Carolina State despite being on
the losing end Olajuwon’s impressive
performance in the final floor was still
enough to earn him Most Outstanding
Player honors as of 2008 this was the
last time a player on the losing team
received the award however one year
later it was Ewing who would raise the
trophy as most outstanding player as a
national champion in the 1984 final
versus Olajuwon’s Cougars Ewing led his
Hoyas to an 84 75 victory that would
mark the end of a larger ones
n-c-double-a career as he went on to be
the number one pick for the Houston
Rockets in that year’s lottery that was
the year that Michael Jordan got drafted
third overall staying one year longer
Ewing would make it to the NC double-a
finals once again where the Hoyas would
lose to an unranked fill anova however
this completed Ewing’s amazing
collegiate career that saw him
participate in three NCAA championship
games in his four years at Georgetown
rivalries was fought between two players
rather than two teams Patrick Ewing and
Hakeem Olajuwon were both major forces
for their respective schools throughout
their NCAA careers before they finally
collided in the n-c-double-a
championship in 1984 interestingly both
Ewing and Olajuwon grew up outside of
the United States Ewing excelled at
soccer and cricket while growing up in
Jamaica it was not until he came to the
US as a teenager that he would consider
basketball as his calling Olajuwon was
born and raised in Nigeria where he did
not begin playing basketball until he
was 15 years old in 1980 Olajuwon was
recruited by the University of Houston
and it was only at this time that he
emigrated to the u.s. from Nigeria in
the build-up to their matchup in the
1984 final then jr. Ewing with the Hoya
squad to a 34 and 3 season the
n-c-double-a final was not unfamiliar to
Ewing as he had made it there in his
freshman season where him and his Hoyas
lost to a North Carolina team led by
James Worthy and Michael Jordan
however the finals were not uncommon to
Olajuwon either one year earlier as a
sophomore the University of Houston had
made it to the big game before losing to
North Carolina State despite being on
the losing end Olajuwon’s impressive
performance in the final floor was still
enough to earn him Most Outstanding
Player honors as of 2008 this was the
last time a player on the losing team
received the award however one year
later it was Ewing who would raise the
trophy as most outstanding player as a
national champion in the 1984 final
versus Olajuwon’s Cougars Ewing led his
Hoyas to an 84 75 victory that would
mark the end of a larger ones
n-c-double-a career as he went on to be
the number one pick for the Houston
Rockets in that year’s lottery that was
the year that Michael Jordan got drafted
third overall staying one year longer
Ewing would make it to the NC double-a
finals once again where the Hoyas would
lose to an unranked fill anova however
this completed Ewing’s amazing
collegiate career that saw him
participate in three NCAA championship
games in his four years at Georgetown
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