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The hiring of Patrick Ewing as the new head coach of the Georgetown Hoyas is costing his son a job due to a nepotism rule at the school. Patrick Ewing Jr. has served as the director of basketball operations at Georgetown since August 2015, but he will not be allowed to stay on the coaching staff because the nepotism rule blocks such father-son arrangements at the university.
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The 32-year-old Ewing Jr., who played for the Hoyas in the early 2000s, was on previous coach John Thompson III's staff. Thompson's father, John Jr., was Ewing's coach at Georgetown in the 1980s.
The elder Ewing, 54, confirmed Wednesday that school nepotism policies prevent him from keeping his son on as an assistant.
"I wish that that would be the case," Ewing told 106.7 The Fan before he was scheduled to be formally introduced as the next basketball coach at Georgetown. "They have a nepotism clause, and unfortunately they are going to stand by it."
Ewing, in his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets, was in the mix for an NBA head coaching gig in recent years but never landed a top job. He has never been a head coach or coached at the college level.
Ewing was a star player for Georgetown from 1981 to 1985 and led the team to the 1984 national title. The Hoyas reached the title game two other times during Ewing's playing career.
Ewing was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft and made 11 NBA All-Star teams as a member of the New York Knicks.
Ewing said he thought about returning to Washington, but he figured his first head coaching job would be in the NBA.
"I've always thought about coming back to the city," Ewing said. "I didn't think it was going to be back coaching the Hoyas. Maybe the Wizards. But I'm back, it's a great opportunity. I do have to say this, though. The only reason I'm back in college is because it's Georgetown. If it was any other university, I would probably say no. I just thought that this was a great fit, a great opportunity."
