Don’t cheer too loud, but we may have just seen Patrick Ewing’s final home game as Georgetown’s head basketball coach. For the better half of the last decade, the Hoyas have created the college basketball equivalent to a supermassive black hole. The once prideful program has been pitifully driven to despair with its greatest player at the helm and all it has to show for it is one good week, a record breaking losing streak, an everlasting revolving door of players and, worst of all, Drake’s most cliched lyric blasted on repeat to no resolve.
But to almost everyone’s relief, it is one of the worst kept secrets in college basketball that Georgetown University will be searching for a new basketball coach in the coming months. And with a little more than a week of misery remaining, we sit here wondering who might get the elusive job offer. So here at Thompson’s Towel we’ve taken it upon ourselves to put together a painstakingly comprehensive list of candidates for the soon-to-be vacancy.
It is worth noting that the individuals listed here fit into one of four categories: those who we’ve heard will be called, those who we expect to be called, those who we want to be called and a few that are just for fun. We’ve put way too much time into this, so it’s your job to figure out who is who.
WARNING: This article has NOT been edited for brevity. We recommend blocking out at least half of your day to read the extremely in-depth and thought-provoking analysis.
THE PRIME CANDIDATES
As you might expect, these are the candidates who check basically every box imaginable. They are the candidates we want to see hired above all else. If these names surprise you we recommend coming out from under your rock.
Rick Pitino, Iona
Why would a squeaky clean, good Catholic, all-time legend coach like Rick Pitino want to come to the hilltop? It’s fate.
The biggest and most popular name floating around Hoya Twitter is undoubtedly Pitino, as guys like myself have been screaming for over a year now. The guy has made seven Final Four appearances in his coaching career, which is more trips than Georgetown has wins this season. He built his reputation at Providence in the Big East of the 80s, Kentucky, and most notably Louisville in recent history. Pitino single-handedly grew the Cardinals from a CUSA squad to a powerhouse in the Big East and nationwide, winning a National Title (It absolutely still counts), making three Final Fours
Pitino has ten years of experience coaching in the Big East and despite his old age, his stint at Iona has shown that he can still win college basketball games. For many a jump to a Power 5 conference from the MAAC would be a huge change, but Pitino is maybe the highest credentialed mid-major coach ever. His son is a Hoya alum, and rebuilding this program into one capable of contending in the Big East would be the cherry on top of a historic coaching career. It just makes too much sense for both sides.
Jack DeGioia, get it done.
#DistRickofColumbia
Grade the Hire: A+
-Brendan
There are maybe three coaches in the country as skilled as Rick Pitino. So when he says he’s got one more coaching job in him, there should be a line of suitors around a New Rochelle block trying to bring him in. Yeah, yeah, whatever, maybe he’s old and maybe he had his championship vacated, but when there are only three teams tied to the recently exonerated Pitino and two of them are St. John’s and USF, you start to think about how Georgetown has been served this opportunity on a silver platter. The guy wins championships and he fosters a winning culture in the process. Maybe he won’t be around for a decade, but I can promise you he is the start of a very strong formula for success. There is no way this hire is anything other than an overwhelming success. You literally couldn’t screw it up if you tried.
Grade the Hire: A+
-Armen
#WhatRicks
Grade the Hire: A++
-John
Ed Cooley, Providence
There isn’t a single person in the country that checks the boxes like Ed Cooley.
I’d hope you’re seeing the little trend here because Cooley, like Rick Pitino, possesses strong in-game attributes with close ties to the University off the court. While we have no doubts in his ability to build a winning culture, his outspokenness about his relationship and deep admiration for the late John Thompson Jr. and the fact that his daughter, Olivia, is currently a senior here makes him a significantly more appealing candidate to the administration. Look, he might not have the pure coaching capabilities of Bill Self or the ties to the school like (dare I say) Ronny Thompson, but it’s not every day you get the opportunity to talk about a candidate like Ed Cooley. He is the exact blend of on and off the court that Georgetown needs to move forward as a program and as far as we’re hearing, he is expected to be the hiring committee’s first serious call.
And at the end of the day, if I’m John DeGioia, I’m handing Ed Cooley a blank check. He’s exactly what I would want in a next head coach and, for all we know, it probably won’t be an immediate no…
Grade the Hire: A+
-Armen
THE FALLBACK OPTIONS
Let’s make one thing clear: Georgetown is going big game hunting this offseason. In the case they miss one of their relatively straight forward shots, these are the candidates who are next in line to get the call.
Mike Brey, Notre Dame
He’s likely the answer to the question every Georgetown fan is asking right now: After Pitino and Cooley, who does Jack DeGioia call? The longtime head coach at Notre Dame has seen some glory in his day, leading the Irish to back-to-back Elite Eights in 2015 and 2016. Since then, however, the program has taken a noticeable step back, and I’m skeptical as to whether or not Brey’s still got it.
Grade the Hire: B
-John
Look, I don’t think this would be the worst hire in the world – in fact I think this is what you call the safe hire that the administration knows they could make if they needed to. Back in his prime, Brey was a really good coach. He has built really good tournament teams that knew how to win when it mattered. But with that being said, his best days are most definitely behind him and I don’t love the feeling of hiring a coach that is being more-or-less fired by the school he has coached at for more than two decades. If I were a betting man, I’d say this is the value pick, but as a fan I want to make sure we strike out on the big names before we end up here.
Grade the Hire: B/B+
-Armen
Kevin Keatts, NC State
We can’t deny the fact that Keatts is a solid basketball coach. He’s definitely had his share of decent teams, but he’s reached just one NCAA Tournament in his tenure as head coach and his NC State teams have been extremely inconsistent, even if they are doing well this season. His success at UNC Wilmington should not be discounted, but just like a lot of the other coaches on this list, we can’t be sure he can be the guy to turn it around.
Grade the Hire: B-
-Armen
Chris Mack, Louisville (2018-2022)
He said no once, but let’s try again! While I’d personally feel more comfortable seeing him work under a more ideal candidate as an Associate Head Coach, there’s no doubt Mack can still coach and he’ll be on someone’s sidelines sooner rather than later. Ultimately, Georgetown cannot afford to take a swing on the coach Mack was at Xavier and pray he replicates that success.
Grade the Hire: B-
-John
In my barely educated opinion we’re past the point of considering Chris Mack to be a viable option to be Georgetown’s next head coach. He deserves credit for his work at Xavier, but during his tenure at Louisville, he rode the coattails of his predecessors just to have it blow up a few short years later. He might have been a decent option in 2017, but I have a total of zero confidence in his coaching abilities today. Is he the worst option? No, but I’d much rather watch him ride off into some mid major sunset.
Grade the Hire: C+
-Armen
Johnny Dawkins, UCF
He wants this job more than your alumni parents want the pub in Healy Hall to come back, but does he deserve it? Sure, he’s a local guy and former pro, but in my opinion he doesn’t bring much to the table when it comes to turning this trainwreck around.
Grade the Hire: D
-John
TOO EARLY TO CALL
If the decision is made to go down the young coaches route, these are the names to look out for. Generally speaking, these coaches have talented basketball minds, but are at least one job or a couple years away from earning a serious look.
Kim English, George Mason
Kim English was definitely a sexy hire last offseason. He’s the definition of a player’s coach, a local product and a rising star in the college basketball coaching world who has shown the ability to attract talent and revitalize support for a program that was flirting with mediocrity, especially among younger fans. The only concern with English comes with the fact that in the two seasons after being one of the most hyped up hires in a while, he has done nothing to move George Mason forward. Sure, English’s teams have been alright, but they’ve also been stuck in the middle of the A10, exactly where they were when he took over. I still believe in Kim English as a coach, but this isn’t the time to call his name.
Grade the Hire: C+
-Armen
Mike Jones, Associate HC @ Virginia Tech
The scenario of Jones, the former longtime head coach at D.C. powerhouse DeMatha Catholic, joining VT coach Mike Young in the same role he currently holds has been floated, but I personally am skeptical of Young’s ability to build a consistent winner. Furthermore, I’d love to see Jones grab a mid-major job this winter and prove he can coach as well as he can recruit before gambling on him at a program like Georgetown.
Grade the Hire: F-
-John
Mike Jones would be the perfect hire in 5 years, but like John I’d be skeptical right now. He did amazing things at DeMatha and would tie us back into the DMV, but we can’t be sure he’s the guy right now.
Grade the Hire: C-
-Armen
Micah Shrewsberry, Penn State
With plenty of assistant coaching experience, Shrewsberry’s start to his head coaching career has been pretty successful. In just his second year leading the Nittany Lions, he has built a well disciplined team that has proven to be a real threat in the Big Ten and beyond. Shrewsberry has already proven an ability to expertly navigate the portal and recruiting circuits, showing that he is capable of both team building as well as program building in a major conference.
Grade the Hire: A-
-Jack
I think Shrewsberry is a great coach. With a lot of valuable experience at multiple levels, Shrewsberry has been an assistant coach for 11 March Madness victories, two championship appearances, as well three conference championship appearances in the NBA. Compared to the other younger/inexperienced head coaches, I honestly don’t have any real gripes with Shrewsberry and, in fact, I think he would have the quickest success on the hilltop. The only thing that comes to mind is the fact that it might be a tougher sell to the fanbase, and therefore the board and hiring committee, when we compare him to some of the local younger candidates.
Grade the Hire: B+
-Armen
Drew Valentine, Loyola Chicago
You can blame part of it on joining the A10, a juggernaut compared to the likes of the MVC, but this guy has essentially taken what Porter Moser gifted him on a silver platter and thrown it in the trash. Loyola is 9-17 (3-11) and among the most disappointing teams in the nation. Sure, he’s young, but after seeing what he’s done I’d rather not take the chance.
Grade the Hire: F
-John
At 31 years old, Valentine is the youngest current D1 head coach. He was promoted internally in succession to Porter Moser following his departure to Oklahoma, but as we’ve seen recently with Villanova, that doesn’t always translate to immediate success. He did win 25 games in his first season, but this year has been a season from hell. Hiring an A10 coach off of a losing season is a terrible look. He could be a great candidate down the line, but the timing here just isn’t right.
Grade the Hire: C-
–Jack
Keith Urgo, Fordham
You remember the lore of King Midas’ gold, don’t you? The opposite of Drew Valentine, he took what Kyle Neptune and turned it into perfection. Fordham is 21-6 and fourth in the A10, and even if they don’t go dancing, the job Urgo has done will warrant calls from several Power 6 programs, perhaps even Saint John’s. He’s done an amazing job but he might need a little more time before we put our future in his hands.
Grade the Hire: C+
-John
I’m just going to say it: I’m afraid of first year head coaches. I don’t care how well he’s doing, just ask yourself how often head coaches succeed when making the jump from a mid major to a high major after one season. Hell, ask yourself if it has ever happened. Urgo is a great story and I don’t want to take away from what he’s done, but I need to see a larger sample size before I can have any kind of confidence in his abilities long term.
Grade the Hire: D+
-Armen
UNREALISTIC BUT WORTH A CALL
At a certain point, you have to take a shot in the dark. These candidates are extremely talented and ready for a position like Georgetown’s, but for one reason or another wouldn’t make sense at the moment.
Chris Holtmann, Ohio State
Holtmann would be a great hire, plain and simple. If we threw out the whole idea of being realistic, he would be pretty close to the top of my list (after the obvious two, of course). Since leaving Gardner Webb in 2013, Holtmann has never had a team ranked worse than 50 on Kenpom and has only had one losing season in conference play (this year will be the second). In doing so, he made two high major programs into national powerhouses that made the tournament every year under his control. My only concern comes with the fact that he hasn’t had overwhelming success in March since taking the job at Ohio State, but I have no doubt that he has the ability to do so. If our administration was willing to step out of their comfort zone just the slightest amount, Chris Holtmann could be their guy. But let’s just be honest with ourselves, we’d just never make the call. He’s just not “Georgetown” enough.
Grade the Hire: A-
-Armen
Wes Miller, Cincinnati
Simply put: this guy’s my ex. I couldn’t stop saying his name last year when I was under the impression Georgetown is a semi-logical institution and would let Ewing go when he went, you know, 6-25. They didn’t though, and since then, Miller’s continued to build Cincinnati back to where it once was before the hell John Brannen brought along, but there’s several other candidates that have come into the limelight since last spring that I’d now prefer over Miller. Is he the worst hire in the world? Absolutely not? Will he bring us back to the promised land (an NCAA Tournament at-large berth)? Maybe, but hell, we’re Georgetown, I don’t want a maybe!
Grade the Hire: B
-John
The obstacle for Miller is that he just signed a two-year extension with the Bearcats that keeps him under contract through the 2028-29 season. This means that if Georgetown were to try and pry him away, it could be complicated and the price tag may be hefty. However, being a young coach with a proven track record puts Miller in the category of great candidates and dream options in the future.
Grade the Hire: A
-Jack
Ron Hunter, Tulane
Realistic or not, I just want Collin Holloway back 🙁
Grade the Hire: B
-Armen
AVOID AT ALL COSTS
You’ve probably heard these names a million times by now, but here at Thompson’s Towel we’ve all agreed to renounce our Georgetown fandom and become honorary DePaul fans if any of these individuals are Georgetown’s head coach next season.
Tommy Amaker, Harvard
It is truly crazy to think about how Tommy Amaker beat an extremely talented (and underperforming) Hoyas team once at McDonough and since then the administration has had this unjustified love affair with him. Let’s just clear something up: the man has been coaching since the stone ages and has achieved absolutely NOTHING.
Grade the Hire: 0. Letter grades wouldn’t do this hire justice.
-Armen
James Jones, Yale
Noticing a trend? No Ivy League coaches please!
Grade the Hire: F
-John
Anthony Grant, Dayton
For a split second, I actually thought this would be a good hire. On the surface, he did produce a number one seeded team in March, but dig any deeper and you’ll see how he’s still riding Obi Toppin’s coattails. Sure, he’s put together some competitive teams outside of 2019-20, but he hasn’t made the tournament since. Ultimately my biggest concern comes from the fact that there isn’t another coach in the country who has been as successful as Grant, but still utterly despised by their fanbase. In other words this man is a walking red flag. As far as coaches to avoid, he definitely isn’t the worst, but dammit I would still avoid him.
Grade the Hire: C-
-Armen
Has he ridden Obi Toppin’s coattails? Maybe, but is Obi Toppin arguably better than any player Georgetown’s produced in the past 15 years? Probably.* If COVID never happened, Grant would likely already be at the power conference level as his 2020 team was primed for a tournament run. Dayton was one of the “first four out” of the tournament last year and, although they won’t be up for an at-large bid this year, they still have a good shot at an automatic one. He’s definitely not my first choice, but Grant could be an okay fall-back in my opinion.
Grade the Hire: B
–Jack
*EDITOR’S NOTE: Jack has done our beloved Otto Porter unnecessarily dirty. Of course he is entitled to his opinions, but rest assured we’ve docked Jack’s speaking privileges.
Ronny Thompson, probably some A10 broadcast…
Yes, yes, I feel exactly the same way as you right now; just reading the name makes me want to throw up. But sadly I feel like I have to include this individual somewhere so at least let me set the record straight: if I hear this name get thrown around just once, I quit. I’m usually joking when I say that, but this time I mean it. I swear I will throw away the 21 years worth of blood, sweat and tears associated with my diehard fandom over just one rumor. Don’t test me.
Grade the Hire: no
-Armen
IF YOU HAVE $14+ MILLION LAYING AROUND
Let’s call this the “Let John Kurkjian Dream” section. As you might imagine, these are never going to happen, but considering the suffering John has been through since he enrolled at this godforsaken school, we should do him a favor and let him dream.
Dennis Gates, Missouri
If Patrick Ewing wasn’t, you know, PATRICK EWING, I’d be willing to bet Dennis Gates would be the current Georgetown head coach. Instead of writing this damned article, we’d probably be camping outside of Capital One Arena to see our likely-NCAA Tournament bound Hoyas play. But here we are dreaming of what things could have been.
Grade the Hire: A+
-John
Jay Wright, Retired
You know who he is, you know who he coached and you know this will never happen. I’m putting his name down regardless. Let a man dream.
Grade the Hire: I’m not putting a grade next to Jay Wright’s name. That’s disrespectful.
-John
Jerome Tang, Kansas State
Look, he’s likely taking the Texas job, but wow can this guy can coach. Tang’s success has been a blessing to Associate HC’s all across the country, but if we’re being frank, Kansas State isn’t Georgetown. Georgetown doesn’t have a Big 12-champion football team to hide under. It can’t take the risk of hiring a guy who’s never been a head coach before. But wow, Tang is really something.
Grade the Hire: A-
-John
TJ Otzelberger, Iowa State
If you asked the #SaveGeorgetownBasketball groupchat, you’d think I have a secret extramarital affair with this man. He coaches defense, he recruits, and he brings success quickly. What’s not to love? If I could pick anyone, and I mean ANYONE in the country to be the next head coach at Georgetown, I’m picking Otz.
Grade the Hire: A
-John
Jamie Dixon, TCU
Noticing another trend? The Big 12 isn’t half decent at basketball! Give me anyone who leads any of that conference’s programs to lead Georgetown, and I wouldn’t be upset. Plus, Dixon would be remarrying the Big East as the former head man at Pitt. It’s the league that keeps on giving!
Grade the Hire: B-
-John
Georgetown could seemingly go in any direction when selecting its next head coach and frankly anything would be better than what we currently have. But when we take a step back the fact that we’ve made it this far is a testament to ourselves and all that is good and holy. So let’s close with this:
If you made it this far you’re either one of three things: the utter definition of a sicko, a die-hard Georgetown fan praying one of these guys saves our program or you merely found this article on your Twitter timeline and some heavenly act compelled you to click. To sum things up: we know change is coming. While support from the fanbase has understandably dwindled, we’re all still here fighting the good fight because anything will be better than this. As we’ve shown up for the past two years knowing losses were coming, but we also proved that no matter how low the bar gets, there’s still some of us that care. We’ve gotten knocked down relentlessly, but we get back up. Why is that the case, you ask? We don’t really know, but all we know is that’s all in the past now.
It’s like the final scene in The Dark Knight. As the Joker dangles near death, he taunts Batman:
“Oh, you. You just couldn’t let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You are truly incorruptible, aren’t you? Huh? You won’t kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won’t kill you because you’re just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.”
No matter how you interpret it, this program is hanging from its death and meanwhile, after this grueling battle over the last two years, we are standing there knowing that we have won at whatever cost. Change is ahead.
If you have any comments or questions about this list, our mentions are always open. Please fire away.
Haven’t seen his name mentioned anywhere, but Rutgers Associate HC Karl Hobbs would actually be a solid fit given his 10 years of HC experience at GW, high level recruiting skills, Big East background (including 2 National Championships as a UConn assistant), and the fact that he’s a former teammate and friend of Patrick Ewing.
Think Ron Hunter would be a very good hire.
“He wants this job more than your alumni parents want the pub in Healy Hall to come back”
Ouch. I don’t have kids so often fool myself thinking I’m still young. Then I do the my age minus 18-22 yrs old math and realize I resemble this remark …
Hiring Rick Pitino and bring on Mike Jones (@ VT) as Associate HC makes the MOST sense for the Hoyas right now. Would love to see it!