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Report: Ed Cooley, Micah Shrewsberry Eyed as Georgetown HC; Rick Pitino Not in Mix
March 11, 2023
Georgetown has formed a list of at least two candidates as it begins the search for a new men's basketball coach after Patrick Ewing was fired on Thursday.
Per Jeff Goodman of Stadium, Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry has emerged as "one of the leading candidates" for the Hoyas, but Rick Pitino isn't currently being considered.
Goodman reported earlier in the day that Georgetown is expected to "make a run" at Providence head coach Ed Cooley, who "will listen" to the school's offer.
Arguably the greatest player in Georgetown basketball history, Ewing was hired as head coach in April 2017. He was coming out of a long run as an assistant coach in the NBA with four different teams from 2002 to 2017.
The Hoyas gave Ewing his first job as a head coach at any level. He was tasked with turning around a program that was coming off back-to-back losing seasons under John Thompson III.
There were minor improvements under Ewing's watch with a .500 record in his first season and a 19-14 record in 2018-19. Georgetown made the NCAA tournament during the 2020-21 season for the first time in six years after winning the Big East tournament title.
Entering the tournament as a No. 12 seed, Georgetown lost 96-73 to Colorado in the first round.
Things bottomed out for the program over the past two seasons with a 13-50 record, though, including an 80-48 loss to Villanova in the Big East tournament on Wednesday in what turned out to be Ewing's final game.
Cooley is in his 12th season at Providence. The 53-year-old has a 242-152 record and six tournament appearances with the Friars. They have won at least 21 games in each of the past two seasons and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2021.
Providence is currently projected to be a No. 10 seed in the 2023 NCAA tournament by ESPN's Joe Lunardi.
Shrewsberry, in his second season with the program, has the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten tournament semifinals against Indiana on Saturday. He's led them to 21 wins so far this season, their most since 2019-20. They could make the NCAA tournament for the first time in 12 years.