As Georgetown fans prepare to watch the Hoyas play in March Madness on Saturday- something that seemed improbable even a week ago- it is worth reflecting on what a whirlwind past 18 months it has been for Patrick Ewing. In an epic postgame celebration after the big clincher against Creighton, Coach Ewing was doused with water inside the MSG locker room as he sang the lyrics from the iconic Drake song: “Started from the bottom, now we’re here!” Truer, sweeter words have never been spoken.
Let’s first go back to the final game of the 2019-2020 season in the Big East Tournament against St. John’s. Georgetown squandered a 15-point lead in the final few minutes in a crushing loss to the Red Storm. The next day, the world stopped with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of May 2020, Coach Ewing himself was diagnosed with COVID-19. He spent five days at a Washington D.C. hospital and dealt with serious symptoms of the horrible virus.
In late August, Ewing’s former coach and mentor, John Thompson Jr., passed away. Coach Thompson was not only an outstanding coach to Ewing and so many other Hoyas but also a father figure to his players. When Coach Thompson passed away, Coach Ewing stated, “[Thompson] has done a great job of teaching us not only to be great athletes but also great human beings. Now it’s my role, my responsibility to keep doing those things to the kids I’m teaching.” Coach Thompson was an incredibly influential presence in Coach Ewing’s life as a father figure and mentor, in addition to his enormous impact on the Georgetown basketball program at large. The loss of Coach Thompson was a profound one, felt nationally, but particularly by both Georgetown and Coach Ewing.
In addition to these significant off-court events, Coach Ewing endured increasingly vocal skepticism from critics about his ability to bring the Georgetown basketball program back to prominence. Back in November 2019, as every Georgetown fan so painfully recalls, the team saw five players transfer in a two-week span, with some allegedly having been involved in off-court issues. A few months later, Mac McClung shocked the fanbase when he announced his intention to move on from the Georgetown program, later transferring to Texas Tech. In a statement, McClung seemingly took a shot at the Ewing-led program, telling ESPN that he felt like he had “no other choice” but to leave and that he was looking for more of a “family” and a “home.” McClung was the star player on the roster, so his departure only fueled Coach Ewing’s critics.
Fast forward to August of 2020, when most Big East programs had already returned to campus to prepare for the 2020-2021 college basketball season. The Hoyas still were not authorized to start practicing due to university health and safety protocols. They were finally cleared to return to campus in mid-September, giving them just two months to practice and meet each other in person before the season officially got underway. To add insult to injury, the team was picked dead last in the Big East coaches’ poll before the season began. With nine newcomers to the roster, the Hoyas struggled early in the season, enduring multiple blown double-digit leads and tough losses, including one to Navy. Coach Ewing acknowledged these struggles, saying “It took time for us to gel and get used to each other.” By mid-January, the Hoyas had a 3-8 record following a loss to Syracuse. Then, COVID-19 forced Georgetown to pause basketball activities.
Exactly what thoughts ran through Ewing and his players’ heads during that pause we may never know, but when they came back, they were a different team. Georgetown went 6-4 down the stretch heading into the Big East Tournament. In their return, the Hoyas played inspired team basketball and started winning close games. In particular, Dante Harris took significant steps forward after the pause, limiting his turnovers, playing ferocious defense, and scoring at a higher rate. Chudier Bile emerged as a significant scoring threat after being inserted into the starting lineup, and also continued to provide outstanding defense in the paint. Qudus Wahab emerged as a Ewing-esque “and-one” machine. Both Jamorko Pickett and Jahvon Blair, Ewing’s first ever recruits, continued to lead by example on both ends of the floor.
But this shift in momentum still wasn’t enough to stop critics from questioning Patrick Ewing’s stewardship of the Georgetown program. On March 3rd, Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel wrote, “There’s been few tangible signs the Patrick Ewing experiment at Georgetown is poised for any kind of outsized success, as he’s 58-57 and 26-43 in the Big East with no NCAA appearances — either real or projected — or postseason wins in his four seasons … Could Ewing see that catering to 15-year-olds doesn’t fit his skill set and just scoot back to the NBA?” Additionally, right before the Big East Tournament began, the New York Post’s Howie Kussoy predicted the Hoyas would lose to Marquette in the first round and even commented sarcastically, “Paging, JT4?”
None of it appeared to rattle Coach Ewing. In response to all of this adversity and criticism, Coach Ewing successfully tuned it out, put his head down, and propelled his team forward. He performed with the grit of the champion he is, and in the process proved all of his critics wrong. After the impressive finish to the regular season, his Hoyas steamrolled Marquette, won close contests against Villanova and Seton Hall, and blew out Creighton to win their first Big East Tournament title since 2007. Patrick Ewing and this Georgetown team shocked the basketball world. And now, the Hoyas are back in the Big Dance.
After the NCAA Tournament bid-clinching win against Creighton on Saturday, senior Jamorko Pickett was asked why he stuck with his coach throughout his entire four years on the Hilltop instead of transferring elsewhere like so many others did. He said, “Coach Pat gave me the opportunity to come here, so why would I back out on him?” Fellow four-year senior Jahvon Blair echoed similar sentiments of pride in playing for Coach Ewing. Following the Hoyas’ Big East title game victory, he said, “We [Pickett and Blair] started with him [Ewing] from day one … just to see how happy he is, it makes me happy.” The whole team has continued to play hard and rally around their head coach. Like his own great mentor Coach Thompson did for him, Coach Ewing never gave up on his guys and instilled an incredible sense of resiliency in them.
Coach Ewing and this Georgetown team are a shining example for all of us. They continued to push forward. They tuned out the noise and then silenced the critics. They believed in themselves and in each other. They were rewarded for their toughness, discipline, and perseverance with that trophy being hoisted at Madison Square Garden last Saturday night.
Despite the critics, Patrick Ewing has proven that he can be a successful head coach of a college basketball team, and he successfully convinced all of his players to buy in to re-establish a winning culture on the Hilltop. Georgetown is back, and Hoyas fans are extremely proud to have the best player in program history at the helm leading the way. We all look forward to this magical Georgetown run continuing deep into March, but either way, Patrick Ewing and the fighting Hoyas are an amazing example of perseverance.
