Report: Georgetown hires Patrick Ewing as head coach

Update: ESPN 980:

Breaking news: sources tell ESPN 980 that #Georgetown has hired Patrick Ewing as next head coach. #Hoyas pic.twitter.com/3HlxalB3FD

— The Team 980 (@team980) April 3, 2017

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

Sources: Patrick Ewing has a multi-year deal to become Georgetown's coach. He will start immediately, leaving Charlotte's staff now.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 3, 2017

The Hornets are playoff longshots, but they’re still only one game out of postseason position. This is upheaval when they have little margin for error, but I think they’ll prioritize respecting Ewing furthering his career and make the best of the rest of their season.

From the moment Georgetown fired John Thompson III, Patrick Ewing has been the hot name for the Hoyas’ head coach.

It’s one step closer to reality.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

After several productive phone conversations with Georgetown University and search-firm officials over the past several days, Patrick Ewing will have a formal, face-to-face interview on Monday for the Hoyas’ head-coaching job in Washington, league sources told The Vertical.

Ewing has been dutifully studying the vastly different job requirements of running a college program, talking with, among others, college coaches who made the jump from professional basketball backgrounds, sources told The Vertical. Ewing has been gathering information on potential assistant coaches, working to find a staff that’ll balance his inexperience in recruiting. Those who have talked with Ewing in the past week believe that he’s fully understanding of the consuming nature of big-time college recruiting and is prepared to immerse himself in it.

Ewing, the Hornets’ associate head coach, has paid his dues as an NBA assistant. Yet, the NBA head-coaching job he desires has eluded him.

Ewing, who played at Georgetown and then starred with the Knicks, has been too often typecast as a big man’s coach. He obviously played center, and he specialized in working with bigs role earlier in his coaching career.

But Ewing has branched out, and coaching a major college program could show he has the organizational and managerial skills necessary to become an NBA head coach. This could be a good stepping stone for him – or maybe destination if he winds up liking college coaching.