WASHINGTON (AP) — Before coaching his first game at Georgetown — indeed, his first game as a head coach at any level of basketball — Patrick Ewing acknowledged that his tenure would be judged on one basis: his record.
“People could call me ‘the greatest Hoya ever,’ but as you know, if I don’t win, there will be another coach here, sooner or later,” Ewing said in 2017. “Every coach knows, as soon as ... you dot the I’s and cross the T’s, the writing’s on the wall. At some point in your career, you’re going to be let go. That’s just life in coaching.”
Ewing’s time as coach of the Hoyas came to an end on Thursday, when he was fired after going 75-109 over six seasons at the school he led to an NCAA championship as a player in the early 1980s.
In a statement included with the news release about the change, school president Jack DeGioia called Ewing “the heart of Georgetown basketball” and described him as “tireless in his dedication to his team and the young men he coached.”
Ewing, meanwhile, thanked DeGioia “for giving me the opportunity to achieve my ambition to be a head basketball coach” and added: “I wish the program nothing but success. I will always be a Hoya.”
His last game was an 80-48 loss to Villanova on Wednesday night in the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, the arena where Ewing was a star for the NBA’s New York Knicks for so many years.
Georgetown went 7-25 this season, including 2-18 in regular-season conference play, a schedule capped by a 40-point loss to Creighton. Ewing presided over a 29-game Big East losing streak that began in March 2021 and ended this January, the most consecutive defeats in league history.
The past two seasons were particularly poor: The Hoyas won a combined 13 games while losing 50, a winning percentage of .206.
He made Hurley look good.
So you’re saying there’s a worse athletic department than USC under Haden? Shocking but I guess anything is possible.
I had completely forgotten about Georgetown. Now I know why.
2-18 in conference play...ouch. 29-game Big East losing streak...OUCH!
After John Thompson outlasted his welcome. Then g town went with the incredibly creative idea of hiring his son, John Thompson, the second or third or whatever. Georgetown follow that up with an even more creative hire Patrick Ewing. I’m wondering if his replacement will be Allen Iverson. At least there won’t be any arguments about practice.