Patrick Ewing was an unstoppable force when he played for Georgetown.
Now, as the Hoyas’ coach, he is jeopardizing his legacy.
The Hoyas set a dubious record last night, losing their 25th straight Big East regular season game following a 73-57 loss to Villanova at the Cap Centre.
Any way you cut it, this isn’t a good look for Georgetown, which built a perennial national power in the 80’s and early 90’s under John Thompson Jr.
The Hoyas teased us for 20 minutes. They were tied with Villanova at halftime, but it is obvious they are not ready to play a cohesive 40 minute game in this league. Villanova smothered them defensively in the second half holding them to 22 points on 6 for 29 shooting. Primo Spears, their leading scorer, was held to eight points on 3 of 12 shooting.
The Hoyas have now lost six straight games to fall to 5-11 and 0-5 in league play. They lost all 19 of their regular season Big East games last year, during a 6-25 season.
Ewing might have lost his job two years ago but brought time when Georgetown came out of nowhere to win the 2021 Big East tournament and qualify for the lone NCAA tournament in the Ewing era.
Ewing is now 73-95 during his six years in charge and just 26-68 in regular season play.
We don’t expect the Georgetown administration to embarrass one of their all-time greats by firing him at mid-season.
But the end is near.
Hours before the game against Nova, AD Lee Reed acknowledged it was a frustrating time for the program.
“We recognize this is a challenging and frustrating time for the men’s basketball program,” he told AP. “Coach Ewing understands that it is imperative to get the program back on track and no one is more committed than he is to making that happen.”.
After the game, which Georgetown president Jack DeGioia attended, Ewing was asked about his job status.
“I’m here to talk about the game,” he said. “My future is my future. I’ll be the head coach at Georgetown until the president or the board decides for me to move on. You know, a friend of mine sent me a quote today: “It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get up. We got knocked down, so all we’re going to do is keep on getting up.”
Ewing is working with a vote of confidence from Reed.
He signed a six year deal with the school in 2017 and received an extension that guarantees his contract through 2026. .
But there are already rumors the school has the money to buy him out and speculation from some Georgetown donors that they have a preference for Rick Pitino of Iona if the job opens. Ironically, Pitino coached Ewing when he played for the Knicks during a Hall of Fame career.
This is Ewing’s first head coaching job and he has been plagued by constant roster turnover with key players leaving the program. He overhauled his staff, replacing all three assistants and brought in several transfers, including Spears, who came from Duquesne.
It hasn’t been enough to stop the pain he and the fanbase must be feeling.
