NEW YORK (AP) — Patrick Ewing walked off the court alone Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, the site of his greatest moments as both an NBA player and Georgetown’s coach, after another blow out loss that might have been his final game leading the Hoyas.
Last-place Georgetown (7-25) was eliminated by sixth-seeded Villanova 80-48 in the first round of the Big East Tournament. School officials have given no indication of whether Ewing will be back for a seventh season, but he fell to 75-109 as coach of the program he lead to three Final Fours and a national title as player.
“No thoughts about my future,” Ewing said. “The (last) two season’s been rough. Disappointed in the outcomes of these last two years. My future’s in the hands of our president and our AD and the board of the directors.”
Athletic director Lee Reed declined to comment on Ewing’s status.
“My thoughts are with those kids right now,” Lee said outside of the Georgetown locker room. “It’s been a long year.”
The Garden will always be a second home to Ewing, with a familiar faces and warm welcomes.
He played 15 seasons for the Knicks after being drafted first overall in 1985, and became one of their all-time greats. His No. 33 hangs from the rafters at MSG.
In the first half against Villanova, Ewing shared fist bumps during a timeout with Big East officials stationed next to Hoyas’ bench, including associate commissioner and former Knicks coach Stu Jackson.
He paced the sideline in his all-black sweat suit, shouting directions to his players and looking incredulous at times when his team failed to smoothly execute its offense or allowed yet another easy Villanova basket.
“It was a rough year. It was not the year we thought we would have had,” Ewing said. ”We kept fighting. We didn’t give up, and we’re disappointed the season ended the way that it did.”
During Ewing’s four years in uniform under coach John Thompson Jr., Georgetown went 121-23, won the 1984 NCAA title and appeared in the championship game two other times. Ewing, who went 9-1 in the Big East Tournament as a player, went on to become the No. 1 overall pick following the NBA’s first draft lottery.
The unquestioned high point of his tenure as Georgetown coach came at MSG two seasons ago. In a mostly empty arena because of the pandemic, Ewing led Georgetown on a surprising run to the Big East Tournament title as the eighth seed.
The Hoyas were one-and-done in their first NCAA Tournament…
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