Jeff BorzelloESPN staff writerRead for 2 minutes
Patrick Ewing will not return next season as men’s basketball coach of the Georgetown Hoyas, the school announced Thursday evening.
One of Georgetown’s all-time greatest basketball players, Ewing was the head coach at his alma mater for six years, finishing with a 75-109 record.
“I am very proud to have graduated from Georgetown University,” Ewing said in a statement. And I am very grateful to the president [John J.] DeGioa for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my ambition of becoming a head basketball coach. It is extremely meaningful to me to be in charge of the basketball program at my alma mater. I wish the program nothing but success. I will always be a Hoya.”
Ewing had not been a head coach at any level before succeeding John Thompson III at Georgetown.
The Hoyas said they have already begun a national search for “new leadership.”
Ewing coached the Hoyas to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 after they won the Big East tournament title, but they’ve been struggling ever since. Georgetown went winless in conference play last season, finishing 6-25 overall. This season, the Hoyas went 7-25 overall and 2-18 in Big East play.
The Hoyas lost a Big East record 29 consecutive conference games that began during the 2021 regular season and ended in January.
Georgetown’s season ended Wednesday night with an 80-48 loss to Villanova in the first round of the Big East tournament.
“Patrick Ewing is the heart of basketball in Georgetown,” DeGioa said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful to Coach Ewing for his vision, his determination and for all he accomplished in Georgetown. Over the past six years he has been tireless in his dedication to his team and the young men he coached and we will be forever grateful to Patrick for his courage and his leadership in our community in Georgetown.”
Under the tutelage of head coach John Thompson, Ewing helped make Georgetown one of college basketball’s powerhouses in the 1980s. He was a three-time All-American during his time with the Hoyas, earning National Player of the Year honors in 1985 and winning a national championship in 1984.
Ewing was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1985 NBA draft by the New York Knicks and spent 15 seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Knicks. He was named an NBA All-Star 11 times. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
Prior to joining Georgetown as head coach in 2017, Ewing was an NBA assistant coach for 14 seasons with the Charlotte Bobcats, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards.