Georgetown Basketball: What’s next for the Hoyas after firing JT3?

Georgetown basketball could consider another program legend in Patrick Ewing for their head coach opening.

It was shocking but it had to be done for the Georgetown Hoyas to take the right step as a program.

On Thursday afternoon, the Hoyas announced that John Thompson III had been relieved of his duties as head coach of Georgetown after 13 seasons on the job. The Hoyas went just 14-18 this past season, including a brutal ninth place finish (5-13) in the Big East Conference.

From GUHoyas.com:

"It is with profound regret and deep appreciation that I informed John Thompson III this morning that the University will no longer be retaining his services as our Head Men’s Basketball Coach.For thirteen years, he has been one of the elite coaches in college basketball. His performance as a coach has been exceptional, and he has served our community with remarkable distinction and integrity, sustaining our commitment to the academic performance of our students and providing them with the very best preparation for their lives beyond the Hilltop.Our tradition of excellence as a University will forever be inextricably linked with John and his family.We are committed to taking the necessary steps to strengthen our program and maintaining the highest levels of academic integrity and national competitiveness.We will work immediately to begin a national search for a new Head Men’s Basketball Coach.I remain deeply grateful to John for all that he has done on behalf of Georgetown University."

While many ultimately thought Thompson would be given one more season, the lack of success and the departures of Tremont Waters (who de-committed) and L.J. Peak (who declared for the draft with an agent) was too much for the prestigious program to handle.

Georgetown wants to get back to their winning ways in the Big East. They made the Final Four back in 2007 under Thompson and finished 25-7 in 2012-13 but they were also under .500 in the last two years and have missed the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four campaigns. In fact, Georgetown hasn’t made the second weekend of the Big Dance since they made that Final Four run in ’07 and lost to a double-digit seed in five of their last six postseason appearances.

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That’s downright embarrassing for a program that is normally one of the flagship teams in the Big East Conference. Their attendance has slipped in recent years, they couldn’t announce their own head coach at home games at the Verizon Center in 2016-17 and after losing to Arkansas State in an on-campus home game, the student body chanted ‘Fire JT3’. Georgetown students and fans didn’t stop there, though, as they petitioned for the removal of Thompson and made a ‘Fire JT3’ Snapchat geotag when the Hoyas played St. John’s at the Garden during the regular season.

If it wasn’t for Thompson’s ties with the program (his father Big John led the Hoyas to the National Championship in 1984), he might’ve been gone even sooner. But a new practice facility called The Thompson Center was recently built and Big John’s presence is still highly felt around the program (he is courtside at every game and stands in the back of all the press conferences).

As for where Georgetown will go from here, it’s rather obvious that the Hoyas will have a multitude of choices. This isn’t some slouch job. This can be an elite program because of the passionate fan base, the opportunity to play in an NBA arena, the talent in Washington D.C. and the way the Big East is thriving despite realignment four years ago.

The candidates for the position could range from current Charlotte Hornets assistant Patrick Ewing to Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker. However, regardless of who’s in the mix, the Hoyas need to hire a coach that can take them in the right direction. They need a coach that is going to make them nationally relevant again.

Would going back to old ties with Ewing really be the right thing to do in this situation? Will the presence of Big John turn off candidates? Will Amaker jump at the chance to coach another Big East program?

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I know the program would’ve preferred to keep Thompson around for the long haul but he gave them no reason to do so. This was a bold move but the right one and now the Hoyas will have to build themselves up quickly again starting with a splash on the coaching carousel.