Patrick Ewing waited. And waited. And waited some more for the opportunity to finally be granted a head coaching job opportunity.
On April 3 of this year, the former Georgetown Hoyas superstar big man received the call that he would be joining his alma mater to become their Head Coach. Ewing’s years as an assistant coach at the NBA level finally paid off as he was given control of his own team.
In his head coaching debut with Georgetown, the Hoyas defeated Jacksonville by the score of 73-57. Junior center Jessie Govan scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and junior forward Marcus Derrickson also added 20 with eight rebounds.
Ewing’s lengthy history as an assistant coach
Ewing ended his Hall of Fame playing career in 2002 and immediately joined the bench of the Washington Wizards the following season as an assistant coach under Doug Collins.
After one season with Washington, he then joined the Houston Rockets’ coaching staff as an assistant. Their head coach, Jeff Van Gundy, was someone who was very familiar with Ewing as he was the Knicks head coach for four-plus seasons while the seven-footer was playing for New York. Ewing remained with the Rockets until 2006.
Ewing then moved on to the Orlando Magic as an assistant coach under Jeff’s brother Stan Van Gundy starting in the 2007-08 season. Led by center Dwight Howard, Orlando made the 2009 NBA Finals where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ewing then joined the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets) as an assistant coach in 2013 where he remained until he was hired by Georgetown. He actually was their head coach for one game on November 8, 2013, when Steve Clifford missed a game due to heart surgery. Charlotte lost to Ewing’s long-time former team, the New York Knicks, by the score of 101-91.
Looking to turnaround his storied alma mater
The 55-year-old Ewing wants to bring Georgetown back to glory. As a player with the Hoyas back in the 1980’s, Ewing led them to three National Championship games winning one of them in 1984. He was named the Naismith College Player of the Year in 1985.
His head coach at the time, John Thompson, is still a legend at the school.
His son John Thompson III is not quite seen in the same light and was fired as head coach on March 23 of this year.
The Hoyas finished 14-18 last season and were just 5-13 in the Big East. They lost to St. John’s in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. In the 2015-16 season, Georgetown went 15-18 and 7-11 in the Big East.
