On January, the day after the New Year. Patrick Ewing walked to the dais at Capital One Arena in Washington for a postgame media conference. He wasn't happy with the 28-point defeat that Georgetown suffered in its Big East opener.
"As a player who helped build this program, I am disappointed in my team's performance, and everybody is on notice."
This is not what Georgetown basketball is about.
The coach was frustrated with the way he was being said to his team. He said that Big John was rolling over in his grave for the performance that we showed tonight, suggesting that both he and the idling program he leads have reached a boiling point.
Five years ago, Georgetown's could have been the best story in college basketball, if it hadn't hired Ewing to continue the brand built by John "Big John" Thompson Jr.
In his four years at the school, he was a three-time consensus first-team All-American and four-time Big East Player of the Year. He and Thompson won the national championship in 1984.
President Ronald Reagan told Pat that he and his teammates were going to remember this for the rest of their lives.
Thompson, the first Black coach to win a national title, and his predominantly Black team were the cool group in basketball.
The Hoyas are just cold.
His comments after the loss to the Golden Eagles summed up the frustration that has been a constant trait of his time as head coach. His record in the Big East is 9-19 and he has lost five straight conference games. He has a losing record for the third year in a row.
Georgetown's future will be shaped by a crossroads. Winning the Big East tournament title did not solve the program's problems. Thompson has not yet proved that he can lead the Hoyas into a brighter chapter. With Georgetown a heavy favorite to lose to the Big East rival Connecticut on Tuesday, it seems that the program he helped build is running out of time.
Father Raymond Kemp has been involved with the program and its players for 50 years, and he says the former Georgetown star understands his situation.
Kemp, who presided over Thompson's funeral Mass last year, said that he sees it as a work in progress and that he is aware of the pressure to win.
Patrick was a star with the New York Knicks in the 1990s when he walked into Madison Square Garden in October. Many in the building stopped to watch as the 11-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer strolled onto the court for his first Big East media day as the new head coach for Georgetown.
One year removed from his first national championship, Jay Wright was the star of a league that featured Ewing.
He said that he was still getting to know his new team and that he had told them what he had been telling them. We are laying the foundation.
After his official duties were over, the 7-footer stretched out in the stands and talked about the assignment he had accepted at his alma mater.
He said that he had to get on a plane and go recruiting.
He didn't seem excited.
He was an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets, the team owned by his friend and former Dream Team teammate Michael Jordan. Even with his professional success as a player, he had yet to get a head-coaching job in the league. Big John, a one-man search committee, called. John Thompson III was fired by Georgetown after missing the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons. He wanted him to think about the opportunity.
His blood, sweat and tears -- my blood, sweat and tears -- and the people that came before me, some of the guys on this wall, they laid the foundation for Georgetown to be where it was.
He admits that he wasn't initially sold on the idea.
He said that he had to convince him.
When he was hired, the chatter in basketball circles centered on his willingness to do the things that NBA coaches don't have to deal with, including academics, recruiting, donor meetings and other administrative duties.
The basketball coach at a prominent university is pitching his product 24/7. The program wanted to connect with a new generation of athletes, so it decided that the best player would be in the D.C. metro area.
The Hoyas were not too far away from enjoying another glorious chapter.
Thompson III led the program to the Final Four in 2007. The son of Big John had reached the NCAA tournament eight times. The expectation was that his name would help the team get big recruits and make another run in the tournament.
After a 10-1 start, he finished with a 15-15 record.
James Akinjo and Mac McClung were top-100 recruits before the second season. Govan was a center who shot 42% from the 3-point line. Like any new coach, he was adjusting to the job, but he had improved the talent pool for his second year. The team lost to Harvard in the first round of the NIT.
His third season was crucial. The preseason buzz around Georgetown was strong because of the backcourt of Akinjo and McClung and the post play of Yurtseven.
The hype wouldn't be validation by the Hoyas. The Hoyas ended the regular season with six straight losses and were eliminated from the Big East tournament.
Big John died on August 30, 2020. The city mourned the loss of the legend and wondered how it would move forward. There was a state of uncertainty for the Hoyas. Many had thought that the presence of Ewing would result in the success they had imagined.
The Georgetown team entered the Big East tournament with a 9-12 record and no chance of making a run. He led his team to four wins and an unexpected Big East tournament title. Exactly 49 years after the school hired Thompson, Georgetown won the conference title with a 73-48 win over Creighton and earned an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament. It was the first league title in 14 years for the program, and Qudus Wahab was named all-Big East.
Despite the earlier turbulence, and a 96-73 loss to Colorado in the first round of the NCAA tournament, they believed their postseason rally pointed to a turn for the better.
It was ironic that when we won the championship, it was the same day that Thompson was hired. I was thinking about getting these guys ready. It was great to win it.
Last month, he sat at a table outside his office and held a phone. After a long day and another long season, he was tired and taking a deep breath at 11 a.m.
He looked at his phone and said, "Give me a minute."
He put the phone back on the table after texting.
He said that he would never stop recruiting.
There was tension around the program in the first stretch of the season as the program tried to avoid the tumult of previous years. He says he would call Thompson in moments like this in the past.
He could see the statue of the former head coach from the living room of his house across the river. Big John's chair is still on the sideline in the practice gym. No one can sit in it.
Big John is so strong that he sometimes forgets he is gone.
He said that he would be sitting in his chair and he would hear the back door open.
The level of criticism another coach in his shoes might experience has been spared because of the brotherhood Thompson fostered within the program.
Georgetown protects its family. You will often hear the phrase "Hoya Paranoia", which is the idea that the brand and program is shielded from outsiders. Practices that were always closed to the media are part of Thompson's legacy. Worried someone might catch a glimpse of his team as it prepared for its next game, tape covered gaps in the doorways from the foyer of the athletics building to the gym, according to USA Today's Steve Berkowitz.
A prominent former player hung up when he was contacted to talk about Ewing. The things people are willing to say on the record are hopeful.
The former Georgetown player and NBA Hall of Famer said that he knows what to do. The seeds were planted by Coach Thompson. They are in us.
Georgetown has lost to Saint Joseph's and Dartmouth so far. It has been difficult to maintain continuity within the program.
The long-term power of the Georgetown brand has been shown by the fact that he can sign top players, a product of his effort on the recruiting trail. His greatest hurdle has been persuading them to stay.
11 players have transferred during the course of the year. Wahab left for Maryland in April 2021. Both Jamari Sibley and T.J. Berger had played less than 10 minutes last season.
Georgetown athletic director Lee Reed said that it was a challenge, but he had to embrace it. We are trying to do that. You cannot complain about how it is. You have to embrace the transfers, name, image and likeness, everything that goes into recruiting and sustaining a great program today. You will fall behind if you don't lean in.
A potential building block for the program is the star of the No. 14 recruiting class in 2021. The five-star prospect, who moved from Nigeria to D.C. as a high school freshman, is doing it all for the Hoyas.
The offensive glass was hit by Aminu Mohammed to get the hoop.
Mohammed said that it was coming and continuing the legacy. We have to go out there and try to be one of those greats.
The Prince George's County area has a gold mine. Adrian Dantley was a star at Notre Dame. Ten years later came Maryland's star. The next wave of talent came from the local area and was led by Kevin and Michael. In this decade, the area has produced stars in Luka Garza, the former Iowa star who won the Wooden Award in both 2020 and 2021, and Kris Jenkins, who made the game-winning shot in the 2016 national title game.
Seven of the players on the national championship team were from D.C. or Maryland. The school will get to another fruitful chapter at home, according to Basketball Insiders in the area. Georgetown has been unable to land top talent in recent years. Chris Wright was the D.C. Gatorade Player of the Year in 2007.
"I think that Georgetown should get back to those graces by doing a better job in our area," said Angelo Hernandez, a local high school and grassroots coach.
Mohammed stumbled up the floor, lost his dribble and committed a turnover in the first half of Georgetown's road loss to St. John's.
The Hoyas lost to Mohammed in a big way.
The team's on-court challenges have now joined the off-court obstacles the program faces. Multiple key players have missed time due to injuries, with the program shut down from Dec. 18 to Jan. 7 and adding a layer of rust to a team struggling to find its rhythm. The recent issues have been intensified by the absence of two conference games due to health and safety protocols.
There are some on-court challenges that are obvious. The Georgetown style of basketball makes it difficult for the team to turn the corner.
With three 7-footers, including the son of NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, it can be difficult for the Hoyas to rotation on defense. They get crushed on fast breaks too often.
The Golden Eagles scored a lot of points in the paint and on fast breaks. Georgetown's fast-break defense has a poor rating due to the fact that opposing teams have made 52.1% of their shots in transition.
The Hoyas have made nearly 37% of their 3-point attempts, which is a plus that allows a team to stretch the floor and create more space inside the 3-point line. The Hoyas have made less than half of their attempts inside the 3-point line.
Mohammed, the team's offensive leader, is a talented freshman wrestler with youthful flaws. He has made less than half of his shots that come at the rim, which is a sign of his aggressive approach.
The numbers are what they are.
You don't need them to see the doubt that has covered the team. The Hoyas seem lost and unsure in tough situations. They look around, hoping someone will save them.
They are in the middle of a mess that they do not know how to fix.
"Just get better" is what he told his team last month. I try to get them to do the things I know we need to do to be good. We have the talent. It is not about the talent. It is about locking in to accomplish the things we want to accomplish.
Many influential Georgetown figures will not publicly question the future of Ewing. He is surrounded by people who are positive about his potential. It is not appropriate to criticize a former player with his status.
It is fair to wonder how long Ewing will stay at Georgetown. The school does not have to reveal information about his contract. The six-year deal was worth nearly $19 million. He has been with that deal for five years.
The future of arguably the greatest player in the history of the school will be in question if Georgetown can't drastically change its season in the weeks ahead. Even with a coach who has close ties to Big John, John Thompson III was fired for less.
You can tell he is trying when you sit across from him. He is trying to figure it out. He is trying to motivate his players. He is trying to win games. He is trying to make Big John proud. He fully understands the pressure.
Kemp thinks that he has the weight of Thompson on him. I think he is giving it his all and they have a good relationship with him. I think he knows about the business side of college athletics. If we get it going, we will keep it going. Maybe it is time for me to do something else if we don't have it going.
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