Patrick Ewing likely to stay at Georgetown for key reason

The Georgetown Hoyas surprised some by retaining coach Patrick Ewing despite a last place finish in the Big East. We now have a clearer reason why that decision was made.

Georgetown blog Hilltop Hoops obtained the details of a reported contract extension Ewing signed last year, after the Hoyas made a surprise run to the Big East tournament title. Ewing had two years remaining on his contract at the time, but the extension added three more.

Ewing’s base salary in the three new years was set at $3.95 million per year. The coach would be owed three years of salary if he were to be fired before the end of the 2023-24 season.

Georgetown was clearly feeling the high from a surprise tournament run, but this was a very bad decision even at the time. Ewing had not made a long of long-term progress, and giving him a new deal essentially made it impossible to fire him without taking a big financial penalty. There was so little to gain from Georgetown’s perspective that it’s quite astonishing they even made the offer.

The Hoyas confirmed last week that Ewing will return next season despite a winless Big East campaign. That decision was questioned at the time, but now we know why it was made.