Where Things Stand

Could Patrick Ewing step down midseason? Are more players going to follow Dante Harris on the way out this semester? I try to answer some of the biggest questions facing Georgetown right now.

As Patrick Ewing’s ship continues to sink deeper and deeper this season, with the latest blow coming on Saturday with a 74-71 loss in overtime to a dreadful South Carolina team, the questions are mounting about the future of this program, both this season, and in the long-term.

The report of Dante Harris’s transfer out of the program was just salt in the wound for Georgetown fans on Saturday afternoon. The decision by Harris to transfer means that every single member of Georgetown’s recruiting classes from 2018-2020 will have transferred out of the program, a shocking fact that only reinforces the ineptitude of Ewing in his time as head coach at Georgetown.

As rumors begin to swirl about when Ewing will go, and what will come after, here’s my attempt to answer some of the biggest questions surrounding this program at the moment.

Would Georgetown fire Patrick Ewing?

In talking to multiple sources within the university administration, there is no expectation that Ewing will be fired by the school at this stage. However, there is deep frustration and unrest among many in the administration and in the athletic department at this point, and it is only growing.

Despite the rising tide of opposition to Ewing within the school, there is still a resignation to the fact that the only opinions that matter here are that of Jack DeGioia and the board of directors.

Those that are in the know believe that if Georgetown were to fire Ewing, it is highly likely that it would take place at the end of this season, similar to what happened when John Thompson III was let go back in 2017. The school is not expected to cut ties with Ewing midseason.

Sources with knowledge of the situation indicate there are at least three members of the board who are ready to move on from Ewing, but the politics of the board, including DeGioia’s influence over it, tend to smother potentially controversial opinions from being raised during board deliberations.

To understand some of the behind-the-scenes politics at work here with DeGioia and the board, it’s important to know that because of Georgetown’s status as a private institution, the board is essentially hand-picked by DeGioia. The board is also not a fiduciary board, meaning that it essentially serves at DeGioia’s behest.

To reinforce this point, sources say that DeGioia has not received an official yearly performance review from the board since he became president of the university, indicating the lack of accountability that exists at the top of the food chain at Georgetown.

A majority of the board will move as DeGioia moves, so don’t expect the board to stage a major rebellion here if DeGioia remains steadfast in his loyalty to Ewing as head coach.

Could Patrick Ewing step down in the middle of the season?

If there is any expectation from anyone that Ewing will step down in the middle of the season, I haven’t heard it yet.

Ewing seems hellbent on sticking this out and trying to fix the program that he helped build originally. This attitude could be considered admirable in most cases, but is coming off as increasingly out-of-touch and desperate with every embarrassing loss this program racks up with Ewing as its coach.

Ewing himself has gone on the record to say that something like last season can never happen again on his watch. Well, it certainly looks like his program is heading for another last place finish, and potentially another winless Big East season, so it will be interesting to see how Ewing would react at the end of the season if that were the case.

Those that know Ewing have long maintained that he is a fiercely stubborn man, but it is hard to see him wanting to continue on next season if Georgetown goes winless in Big East play again, or comes close to doing so.

Ewing’s relationship with the Georgetown fan base feels like it has reached the point of no return. After Saturday’s loss against South Carolina, there were a couple of isolated shouts at Ewing calling for him to resign as he walked off the floor.

There was also this:

Hoya Realist @hoyapropaganda

@HilltopHoops_ A longtime STH near the tunnel yelled “You’re responsible for this mess, Pat” as he walked by

The attitude towards Ewing on social media shows what is going to start coming out in public with increasing frequency at home games this season, with the general mood starting to shift from pity to simmering anger. Even the most staunchly loyal pro-Ewing Twitter accounts are beginning to say it’s time for Ewing to step down.

I’m not sure in what world that Ewing, or anyone at the school, could think that any of this is salvageable. If they are smart, they will end this failed experiment as quickly as possible to help save Ewing’s overall legacy at Georgetown from being marred by this disaster. Time is ticking.

What happened with Dante Harris?

The writing was on the wall for Dante Harris as soon as Primo Spears committed to Georgetown. While Harris was willing to compete with Spears for the starting point guard position, and did, he did not react well to losing his starting position heading into this season.

There has been talk of Harris transferring from Georgetown since March. I had several students message me in the spring saying Harris had been telling students at parties that he was leaving the school that summer, but that never panned out. Talk of a transfer still persisted though, and grew louder again when Spears transferred in from Duquesne.

Sources on the team said that the hope was that Harris would fall in line and accept the role of backup point guard, but there was also an acknowledgment early on that he might not take well to losing the starting job, and that’s what this came down to, from what I understand.

Harris had a very difficult season last year, both physically and mentally, and combined with the feeling of being recruited over with the addition of Spears, he felt that a fresh start was best for him.

Georgetown’s awful start to this season certainly does not provide him any incentive to return to the team either. Why burn another year of eligibility if you aren’t happy with your role on a last-place team?

Could more players be on the way out with Harris before the season ends?

The worry now is that more players will follow Harris’ lead and transfer from the program before the fall semester ends so they can get a head start on picking their next school.

A tweet from an anonymous Georgetown fan Twitter account on Saturday spread an unconfirmed rumor that multiple other players will be transferring out before the semester is over, which has stoked fears among fans that another mass player exodus is impending.

While I haven’t heard of any plans by other players to transfer out yet, such a scenario cannot be ruled out with how inconsistent Ewing has been in giving minutes to some of the promising young players on his bench, such as Jordan Riley, Ryan Mutombo, and Denver Anglin.

Especially when considering how other players higher up on the depth chart have struggled at times, it’s frankly ridiculous that these younger players, who should be the future of the program, are not being given more opportunity to develop and prove themselves for what is a rebuilding program.

It also wouldn’t be surprising to see any player transfer after the way Ewing threw his entire roster under the bus on Saturday in his postgame press conference.

Hilltop Hoops @HilltopHoops_

(cont.) "We're watching the film, we're showing them all the mistakes they are making - that we are making - and we're still not learning. I don't see anything else that we can do. This isn't the NBA where you can trade and get other players in."

The status of the roster will bear watching for the rest of 2022, to see if anyone else has had enough and is ready to move on from Ewing and Georgetown.