Georgetown parts with coach Patrick Ewing after six seasons and just one NCAA Tournament berth
Georgetown parted with men's basketball coach Patrick Ewing after six disappointing seasons, the school announced Thursday.
The move came after the Hoyas were non-competitive and blown out 80-48 by Villanova in the first round of the Big East tournament Wednesday.
Georgetown finished 7-25, and Ewing - the school's greatest player - ends his tenure with a 75-109 mark, the second-worst winning percentage in the school's storied history.
"Patrick Ewing is the heart of Georgetown basketball," Georgetown president John J. DeGoia said in a statement. "I am deeply grateful to coach Ewing for his vision, his determination, and for all that he has enabled Georgetown to achieve. Over these past six years, he was tireless in his dedication to the team and the young men he coached and we will forever be grateful for Patrick for his courage and his leadership in our Georgetown community."
The Hoyas problems this season came on both ends of the floor, ranking last in the Big East in field goal percentage defense, scoring defense, and 3-point percentage defense, with the offense scoring 69.5 points a game, ranking ninth in the 11-team league, while shooting 42% from the field, including an atrocious 31% from beyond the arc.
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Things were looking up for the Hoyas during the 2021 season. They finished 13-13 and won the Big East tournament for their first league postseason crown since 2007. Georgetown followed that run by losing to Colorado in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the only appearance in Ewing's tenure.
Georgetown went on to lose its next 29 Big East games, shattering a conference record before breaking the streak with an 81-76 win over DePaul on Jan. 24.
The 60-year-old Ewing was hired in 2017 to replace John Thompson III after spending 15 years as an NBA assistant, without securing a top job he coveted.
Ewing starred for Georgetown in the 1980s under John Thompson Jr., helping the Hoyas to three Final Four trips and a national title in 1984.
The New York Knicks selected Ewing with the first overall pick in the 1985 NBA draft and he starred for them for 15 seasons, having his No. 33 jersey retired and hanging at Madison Square Garden, where the Big East tournament is held.
He retired from the NBA after the 2001-02 season and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing out after six seasons with alma mater
