Day 224

Fresh Start_224: Up next, Patrick Ewing
It isn’t every day that I sit down to write an article and news breaks. The Breaking News today that has been confirmed by multiple reports is, the Georgetown will announce former Hoya Center Patrick Ewing as the new head coach of their basketball program.

Ewing will secede John Thompson III who is the son of Georgetown legend John Thompson Jr.  Thompson Jr. lead the program through the incredible era of Big East basketball, bringing home 7 regular season titles, 6 Big East titles, 20 NCAA Tournament appearances, 3 Final Four’s, and one National Title. John Thompson Jr’s overall record as the head man of Georgetown was 596-239 a .714 winning percentage. An absolute legend.

Now, his son Thompson III had huge shoes to fill when he took over his father’s shoes at Georgetown. Some say that the shoes that Thompson III had to fill were impossible to fill and it was unfair to think that same excellence would happen under Thompson III. Well, that criticism of Thompson III of not being like his father was unfair, but expected and insurmountable to overcome. Thompson III career as Georgetown’s head coach went like this: 4 regular season titles, 1 Big East title, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, a Final Four appearance, and zero National Championships. Now, that resume is impressive by itself, however—the last two season of Hoya basketball have been unacceptable in the eyes of Georgetown. The Hoya’s in the 2015-16 season went 15-18 ending the streak of 11 years in a row with a winning record. The encore to that season was a 14-18 record for the Hoya’s and the team in general was uncompetitive in basically every game.

The solution was to let the son of the Georgetown legend go and start their search for a replacement. They finally set on former Hoya Patrick Ewing, who was arguably John Thompson Jr’s best player that ever went through the program. Ewing would do great things with the Knicks in the NBA, and most recently was the assist of Steve Clifford in Charlotte. Ewing was considered for the L.A. Laker job this past summer which would ultimately go to Luke Walton, and the Oklahoma City Thunder vacancy the year before that would end up in the hands of former Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan.

Ewing has something to prove as a head coach and now a recruiter at Georgetown. His expectation will most likely to get Georgetown on the winning track, and at best make a good run in the NIT next season. For a program that is at rock bottom at the moment for the first time since hiring John Thompson Jr. taking things slow is the right outlook for the program. Ewing will be a first time head coach and getting the team to the NIT will be a big accomplishment. Ultimately, yes Georgetown will expect a National Title appearance and Championship from Ewing and his staff, but that will be a long time down the road. This hiring is on the National Title tonight, and the Hoya’s are sending a message to the Big East and to the country, that they are getting back on track.
Sources:(bleacherreport.com, sportsreference.com, si.com, guhoyas.com)

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