Patrick Ewing will not return as men’s basketball coach of the Georgetown Hoyas next season, the school announced Thursday evening.
Ewing, one of the greatest college basketball players of all time while at Georgetown, had been the head coach of his alma mater for six seasons and finishes his tenure with a 75-109 record.
“I am very proud to be a graduate of Georgetown University,” Ewing said in a statement. “And I am very grateful to President [John J.] DeGioa for giving me the opportunity to achieve my ambition to be a head basketball coach. It is particularly meaningful for 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 never been a head coach at any level prior to replacing John Thompson III at Georgetown.
The Hoyas said they have already started 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 have struggled to find their footing since that time. Georgetown put up a goose egg conference play a season ago, finishing 6-25 overall. This year was not much better as the Hoyas went 7-25 overall and 2-18 in Big East competition.
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 mercifully ended Wednesday night with an 80-48 loss to the Villanova Wildcats in the first round of the Big East tournament.
“Patrick Ewing is the heart of Georgetown basketball,” DeGioa 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 his team and the young men he coached, and we will forever be grateful to Patrick for his courage and his leadership in our Georgetown community.”
Under the leadership 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, spending 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 its head coach in 2017, Ewing spent 14 seasons as an assistant coach in the NBA with the Charlotte Bobcats, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards.
