Patrick Ewing: 'Big John is rolling over in his grave'

After watching his team get blown off his home floor by Marquette, 92-64, Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing wasn’t too pleased.

He ripped into his players in the post-game press conference. “Big John [Thompson] is rolling over in his grave,” he said. He then added “everyone is on notice.”

John Thompson spent 27 years at Georgetown from 1972 to 1999. He led the Hoyas to three Final Fours and the 1984 National Championship. In 1984, Ewing helped the Hoyas win that national crown after defeating Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Cougars. Ewing is widely known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

College basketball expert Jeff Goodman summed it up perfectly when he said on Twitter: “Georgetown just lost by 28 at home to Marquette. The Ewing Coaching Era looks headed for a similar conclusion to that of the Mullin Coaching Era at St. John’s. One fortunate NCAA tourney, but the Hoyas have been mediocre — and I am being kind — over the past four-plus years.”

Ewing was hired at Georgetown in 2017 to turn around the program. That hasn’t been done and the program has been spinning its wheels in mediocrity ever since the former Hoyas legend was hired. His overall record to this point is just 68-65.

In 2017, the Hoyas went 15-15 overall, including 5-13 in conference play. In the 2018-2019 season, Ewing guided Georgetown to a 19-14 overall finish, including 9-9 in the Big East (his best record yet).

In 2019-2020, the Hoyas finished 15-17 overall and 5-13 in the Big East. Then a year ago, Georgetown finished 13-13 overall with a 7-9 record in the Big East. They had a breakthrough last season by winning the Big East Tournament, but still got bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and lost to Colorado by 23 points.

There are many great players that have not panned out as coaches. As a matter of fact, the great player-great coach combination is incredibly rare in college athletics. Michigan’s Juwan Howard and Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg are exceptions to that rule.

Ewing and the Hoyas kicked off Big East play with a thud

The stats were not pretty in this game and keep in mind, the game was on Georgetown’s home floor. The Hoyas were playing their first game since Dec. 18 after four games were postponed due to covid protocols.

Georgetown was outrebounded on the glass by 12 rebounds, had 12 fewer assists than Marquette, and shot an atrocious 29.9% from the field. The Marquette Golden Eagles, on the other hand, nailed 59.1% of their shots.

Ewing has to find a solution and find it fast, otherwise, his tenure at Georgetown will likely end sometime in the near future.

Georgetown will face Butler next on Jan. 13. Tip-off for that game is slated for 7:00 p.m. EST.