The Hoyas were coached by Craig Esherick and played their home games at the MCI Center in Washington, DC.

They advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2003 Big East men's basketball tournament before losing to Syracuse.

With forward Harvey Thomas having transferred to Daytona Beach Community College over the offseason after his freshman year, the Hoyas began the season with only senior center Wesley Wilson and junior power forward Mike Sweetney returning from the previous season's frontcourt.

Opposing defenses focused on stopping Sweetney, giving Riley more scoring opportunities than he had had during his first two seasons.

[4] Freshman guard Ashanti Cook, a high-school teammate of Bowman's, was another newcomer to the team.

[5] Also debuting with the varsity team was sophomore forward Darrel Owens, who had sat out his freshman year in 2001–02.

[4] The Hoyas defeated Tennessee, then won at Providence and at North Carolina to advance to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City, their deepest run in a postseason tournament since they advanced to the East Region final in the 1996 NCAA tournament.

[7] In June 2003, Mike Sweetney opted to forgo his senior year of college eligibility and enter the NBA draft, the third player – after Allen Iverson in 1996 and Victor Page in 1997 – to break with the John Thompson, Jr.-Craig Esherick era's tradition of basketball players staying a full four years and graduating.