When Georgetown’s basketball program hired NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing to be its head coach back in 2017, the hope in the Beltway was that this institution would become relevant on the national stage once again.
It did not happen. The Hoyas just finished up shop on a 7-25 season and have posted a combined 13-50 record over the past two campaigns. Its season concluded in humiliating fashion, losing to Villanova in the first round of the Big East Tournament by the score of 80-48.
Despite his connection with the program, this performance was not enough for Ewing to keep his job. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports was the first to report on Thursday that Georgetown has indeed parted ways with Patrick Ewing.
This has to be considered a sad day for Georgetown basketball and those who back the previous national powerhouse.
Ewing, 60, starred under the great John Thompson with Georgetown from 1981-85. The program won the 1984 National Championship in defeating Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Cougars in the title game.
Georgetown’s fall from grace and the sad departure of Patrick Ewing
For a good quarter century from 1974-1997, the Hoyas were one of the national powerhouses around the college basketball world. In addition to winning the national title in 1984, the program made 20 NCAA Tournament appearances and three Final Four appearances during this span.
It’s been downhill since Thompson’s retirement following the 1997-98 season. Georgetown has made just nine tourney appearances since. More recently, the Hoyas have gone dancing just one time over the past nine seasons. That resulted in a first-round loss to Colorado back in 2021.
As for Patrick Ewing, he posted a mere 75-109 record in six seasons as Georgetown’s head coach. Officially, he goes down as the program’s least successful head in history.