Georgetown director of athletics Lee Reed put to bed any speculation that men’s basketball head coach and Knicks legend Patrick Ewing would be out of a job this spring; and stated quite the opposite.
“In this ever-evolving landscape of college athletics we are committed to Coach Ewing,” Reed said in a statement. “And we are working with him to evaluate every aspect of the men’s basketball program and to make the necessary changes for him to put us back on the path to success for next year.”
The public showing of support came hours before the Hoyas attempted to snap a school-record 18-game losing streak that has made this 2021-22 season one of the worst in program history.
After going 13-13 last season, Georgetown was 6-22 entering Wednesday’s matchup against Seton Hall. The school record for most losses in a season is 23.
Ewing’s side has lost 17 straight Big East games, already breaking a record for most conference losses in a season, which was previously at 15.
“As a university with high standards and expectations for both academic and athletic excellence, we all share the disappointment of a difficult season,” Reed added.
But Georgetown’s AD cited last year’s improbable run to the NCAA Tournament after shocking the field and winning the Big East title before a first-round exit to Colorado as a reason why Ewing will stick around.
Even Ewing himself saw writing on the wall that indicated his future in Georgetown wasn’t set.
“Of course, I want to be back here,” Ewing said on Sunday. “But in this position and this job, whatever happens, will happen. I’m hoping that I’ll be back and doing something that I love at a place that I love and getting us back to being the king of the hill.
“Of course we’re all disappointed in the fact that we have such a huge losing streak. This is something that I’m not accustomed to. Even in the NBA when we had poor teams, I don’t think we’ve lost this many in a row, but we have to keep fighting. We have to keep pushing.”
