Georgetown AD: Patrick Ewing Safe As Hoyas Coach

March 2, 2022

Despite rumors to the contrary, Georgetown star and current coach Patrick Ewing will return for another season, athletics director Lee Reed said in a statement.

Ewing was the No. 1 overall pick by the Knicks in 1985, the NBA’s first lottery. He went on to a Hall of Fame career as a player, then spent multiple years as an assistant coach in the NBA. Georgetown marked his first head-coaching gig.’

He took the Hoyas to the NCAA tournament last season, but they are just 6-22 this year. That includes an unprecedented 0-17 mark in the Big East. Overall, they have lost 18 straight.

Still, Reed made it clear that Ewing will return.

“As a university with high standards and expectations for both academic and athletic excellence, we all share the disappointment of a difficult season,” Reed said in the statement. “In this ever evolving landscape of college athletics we are committed to Coach Ewing, and we are working with him to evaluate every aspect of the men’s basketball program to make the necessary changes for him to put us back on the path to success for next year.”

Georgetown has released a statement in support of Patrick Ewing. pic.twitter.com/RojvGdXdPc

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 2, 2022

Georgetown didn’t have that great of a season last year, but a run through the Big East tourney may have bought Ewing some time. The Hoyas are 68-81 overall in Ewing’s five seasons.

“The former Knicks star was on top of the world last year when he coached the Hoyas to a Big East championship and the team’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015, but it’s been a long fall from grace,” wrote Joseph Salvador of SI.com.

Added Steve DelVecchio of Larry Brown Sports, “It also helps that he is such an icon at the school, but those good vibes will run out eventually. Ewing probably won’t survive another season as bad as the one the Hoyas are having this year.”