It has finally happened. Patrick Ewing is no longer the head coach at Georgetown. The greatest player in the history of the program (Not to mention one of the best players in the history of the game of basketball.) just didn’t work out. While I do think that this should have happened a year ago, it is better late than never.
So now it is time for the Hoyas to find a new head coach, someone who will hopefully turn this program around and bring Georgetown back to the top where it belongs.
Georgetown Coaching Options
Rick Pitino – Iona Head Coach
If you were to look up the definition of “no-brainer” you would see Rick Pitino’s face in front of a Georgetown logo. It makes too much sense. In a recent interview with CBS Sports he seemed to heavily imply that, while he has really enjoyed his time at Iona, he is ready to get back to the big time. Georgetown needs someone with experience to return this storied program to glory. Who better than Pitino? He’s taken 3 (!!) different programs to the Final Four. He’s won national championships at two different schools. He knows the northeast from his time at Providence, which also means he has Big East experience too. Pitino would also likely bring a couple of his Iona players with him. It is also worth mentioning that Georgetown is, of course, a catholic school and Pitino is a devout catholic. Oh, and he has no buyout.
However it is anyone’s guess how the administration at Georgetown, specifically university president Jack DeGoia, feels about Pitino as a candidate. While the coach was exonerated by the NCAA of any wrongdoing from Louisville last fall, administration could still be hesitant. They are the only thing standing in the way.
Ed Cooley – Providence Head Coach
The college basketball community seems to be divided on the Ed Cooley to Georgetown rumors. There is good reason for that though. On one hand the thinking is that he is never leaving Providence. He’s from the city, played 30 miles away at Stonehill, and has coached the Friars since 2011. But on the other side he idolized John Thompson Jr. and his daughter is a Georgetown student. Then on the basketball side Georgetown has better facilities, a bigger budget, and is in arguably the best basketball recruiting area in the country. The one problem is that, while he’s won 20 or more games in 9 of the past 12 seasons, his teams have only reached the Sweet Sixteen once, and that was last year. But he’d still be a great hire if the administration at Georgetown is willing to open up their wallets.
Mike Brey – Notre Dame Head Coach
Earlier this winter it was announced that Mike Brey’s time at Notre Dame is done after 23 years. Since then there have been some rumors of Brey to Georgetown. He is an accomplished high-major head coach. Those accomplishments include back-to-back Elite Eights with the Fighting Irish in 2015 and 2016. But since then his teams haven’t been very good, especially this year despite a historically bad ACC.
Kevin Keatts – NC State Head Coach
I do not think of Kevin Keatts as overly likely, but he would probably throw his hat in the ring. This time a year ago he was on the hot seat in the midst of an awful season for his Wolfpack squad. But they’ve turned things back around this year. Despite the fact that he’s only made one tournament while there (Maybe two if they make it this year.), he has won 20+ games in 4 of his 6 seasons at NC State.
Mike Young – Virginia Tech
Mike Young is an interesting candidate with a low buyout. He has DMV connections, which some people will view as a necessity for the new coach, with Christian Webster and former DeMatha head coach Mike Jones on his staff with the Hokies. Plus he is a really good coach. It would be a well-liked and approved hire, but might not be as big of a splash as some may want.
Mike Rhoades – VCU Head Coach
Mike Rhoades is a good coach, especially defensively. But the biggest thing is that he’s local. He was on Shaka Smart’s staff at VCU during their First Four to Final Four run in 2011 (A run that included a Round of 64 upset of Georgetown.). He left to take the Rice job in 2014. But since returning 3 years later to take the helm in Richmond he has had a lot of success. He’s taken them to the NCAA Tournament twice already and will be a third time if the top seeded Rams win the A-10 Tournament this week.
Pat Kelsey – College of Charleston Head Coach
The rumors are that Pat Kelsey wants the Notre Dame job. But whether or not those rumors are true it would be silly not to at least interview him for the Georgetown job. His Charleston team currently sits at 31-3 and are the champions of the CAA. He had them ranked as high as 18th in the AP Poll at one point, the program’s first time being ranked since the 2002-03 season. He has rebuilt the Cougars program in just two short years. Before Charleston he was great at Winthrop, winning multiple conference championships (4 regular season, 3 conference tournament). While coaching the Eagles he became the second winningest head coach in the history of the Big South Conference (110 conference wins). Kelsey is ready for a high-major job.
Darian DeVries – Drake Head Coach
Darian DeVries’ name has recently been discussed internally at Georgetown. He’s an interesting candidate. The big downside is that he doesn’t have any connections to the DMV. However, there’s no doubt about how good of a coach he is. He was an assistant at Creighton from 2001-2018, working under Dana Altman and then Greg McDermott. His first five years as the head man at Drake have been great. In his first year his Bulldogs won their first regular season Missouri Valley title since 2008, despite the fact that they returned basically nobody from the year before. They won 95 games in his first four years in Des Moines, the most in any four-year period in the history of the program. All five of his seasons have resulted in 20+ wins, and this year will be the second NCAA Tournament trip under his command after winning the MVC tournament title.
