Five Candidates To Replace John Thompson III At Georgetown: Patrick Ewing Makes The Most Sense
John Thompson III is finally out at Georgetown after 13 seasons, and now the Hoyas are in the market for a new head coach. The last four seasons have been incredibly difficult for the school’s basketball program, as it has posted just one NCAA Tournament appearance and 69-62 record overall.
Here’s a look at five candidates who could replace Thompson and put Georgetown back on the right track.
Patrick Ewing
Come on, you knew this list was going to start here. Ewing was a superstar for the Hoyas, led them to a national title in 1984 and went on to be the No. 1 pick in the 1985 NBA Draft. Since retiring as a player in 2002, the 54-year-old has been employed as an assistant coach at four different NBA stops. He’s currently the associate head coach of the Charlotte Hornets.
Ewing has never been a head coach at any level but is well-regarded in NBA circles for his work on the bench. He has long been looking for an opportunity to be a head guy, and this seems like a perfect fit at the perfect time.
Tommy Amaker
Amaker had a difficult run as a major-conference head coach during six seasons at Michigan, but he’s certainly proven himself since. Amaker has turned Harvard into a power in the Ivy League, reaching four NCAA Tournaments in nine years and winning at least a share of the conference title five years in a row from 2010 to 2015. His overall record of 179-96 (.651) is outstanding when you consider the limitations of coaching at a place like Harvard.
Amaker is still just 51 years old, and he’s ready for a move back to big-time college basketball.
Mitch Henderson
Henderson is a young rising star in the college basketball coaching ranks and is almost certain to get an opportunity to move up soon. The 41-year-old has been the head coach at Princeton since 2011 and has posted a fantastic 119-60 (.665) record in that time. The Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament this season after winning the Ivy League’s regular season and tournament titles.
In the past two seasons, Henderson has guided his team to a combined record of 45-14, and 26-2 in conference play. This year he was unanimously named the Ivy League Coach of the Year. Clearly, he’s doing something right, and Georgetown would do well to interview him.
Tom Crean
Crean just lost his job at Indiana, but that doesn’t mean the man can’t coach. The 50-year-old is just a year removed from an outright Big Ten title and being named the conference’s coach of the year. He also has experience in the Big East from his time at Marquette.
Crean did a fantastic job rebuilding Indiana after the disaster left behind by Kelvin Sampson. He’s a relentless recruiter and a hard worker whose energy would give Georgetown’s program a much-needed boost. He wants to coach again next season, and he’d be a solid fit with the Hoyas.
Joe Dooley
Random name? Sure, the Florida Gulf Coast head coach has done great things there in his four years at the program. The Eagles have won two Atlantic Sun regular season titles and back-to-back tournament titles. Dooley has had them in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons and is clearly building something.
Dooley was Bill Self’s top assistant at Kansas from 2003 to 2013, so he knows what it takes to win and win big. Given the resource boost he’d get at Georgetown, he could do great things.