by Georgetown University fired head basketball coach Patrick Ewing after he went 75-109 in six seasons at the school he led to an NCAA championship as a player in the early 1980s.
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 NBA star for many years with the New York Knicks.
“People might call me the greatest Hoya of all time, but as you know, if I don’t win, another coach will come along sooner or later,” Ewing said in 2017.
“Every coach knows that as soon as you… dot the i and cross out the T, the writing will appear on the wall. At some point in your career you will be fired. Such is life in coaching.
In a statement accompanying a press release about the change, school principal Jack DeGioia called Ewing “the heart of Georgetown basketball” and described him as having “tireless dedication to his team and the young men he coached.”
Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing was fired today after six seasons with the Hoyas
Ewing’s final match would end in an 80-48 loss to Villanova in the Big East
Meanwhile, Ewing thanked DeGioia “for allowing me to fulfill my ambitions of being a head basketball coach” and added, “I wish the program every success. I will always be Hoya.
Georgetown went 7-25 this season, including a 2-18 in regular season conference games, and the schedule was capped with a 40-point loss to Creighton.
Ewing presided over a 29-game losing streak in the Big East that began in March 2021 and ended in January this year, the most consecutive losing streak in league history.
The last two seasons have been particularly poor: the Hoyas won a total of 13 games while losing 50, for a win percentage of 0.206.
Ewing’s tenure included only one winning season, zero March Madness wins, and only one NCAA Tournament appearance.
This is a far cry from the success Georgetown had when the 7-foot Ewing patrolled the paint as an intimidating shot-blocking force downtown a decade ago.
During his four years in uniform under coach John Thompson Jr., Georgetown went 121-23, won the 1984 NCAA title, and made two championship appearances.
Ewing became the #1 overall pick after the first NBA draft lottery and played as a professional, mostly for the Knicks.
Ewing played for Georgetown from 1981 to 1985, where he won the NCAA National Championship
Ewing receives an award while standing next to Georgetown coach John Thompson® in 1984
“Just as I’ve been successful as a player,” Ewing said when he was hired to succeed Thompson’s son John III as head coach of the Hoyas after 15 years as an assistant in the NBA, “that’s how successful I’ve been wanting to be a coach.”
It didn’t work out that way. Not even close.
He started, quite promisingly, with an 8-0 score. What followed was a harbinger of what was to come: Georgetown was down 15-15 that season, lost in the first round of the Big East, and was not invited to the postseason.
Under Ewing, a wave of transfers took talent away from Georgetown, while strong defense – a hallmark of his teams when he was on court – was rare.
The undisputed highlight of his return to the Hilltop was the 2021 conference tournament at his old MSG ground.
The Hoyas surprisingly took four wins in four days to claim this title and the associated NCAA automatic berth; they were dropped by Colorado by 23 points in the first Big Dance game.
A year later, with Georgetown on track to drop to 6-25 – breaking a mark that stood for half a century and setting a school record for most men’s basketball losses in a season, which was repeated this season – athletic director Lee Reed offered a public screening support for Ewing.
During the last offseason, all three of Ewing’s assistant coaches were replaced and some new players were brought in, but that didn’t help. And the speculation about Ewing’s future that was already circulating got louder as this season fell apart.
Ewing was best known for his performances with the New York Knicks during his Hall of Fame career
In January, Reed responded to a request for an interview by issuing a statement to The Associated Press calling Ewing’s career “a challenging and frustrating time”. Reed also said at the time that Ewing “understands the need to get the show back on track.”
Hours later, with DeGioi in attendance, the Hoyas lost to Villanova, their record 25th straight Big East loss.
“My future is my future,” Ewing said after that loss. “I will be the head coach at Georgetown until the president or board decides that I should leave. … You know, a friend of mine sent me a quote today: ‘It’s not about how many times you get knocked down; it’s about how many times you get up.” We fell, so all we can do is keep getting back up.
Another loss to the Wildcats would be Ewing’s final game at his alma mater. Less than 24 hours later, Reed announced, “We will immediately begin a nationwide search for our next coach.”
