The New York Knicks signed former Georgetown forward Patrick Ewing Jr. to their roster, filling the maximum 15 spots. Patrick Ewing Jr. played two seasons with the Hoyas after transferring from Indiana, and was part of the Big East Championship team that made it to the Final Four in 2007. He was also the Big East 6th Man of the Year in 2008.

The signing is also significant since New York was the home of his father, Patrick Ewing Sr., for 15 seasons. Ewing led the Knicks to two NBA Finals and is the franchise leader in points, rebounds, blocks, steals, and games played.

[Via Bloomberg.com]

The Kenner League is not the only summer basketball to get underway this past weekend. The NBA Summer League started up yesterday and two Hoyas are on rosters: Brandon Bowman and Patrick Ewing, Jr.

While Brandon has yet to see any action for the Charlotte Bobcats, Patrick has been the leading scorer for the Orlando Magic in both of their games so far.

The Magic lost both games, but they are still the team to watch for Hoyas fans as Patrick Ewing is coaching his son in the hopes of landing him a spot on a regular season NBA roster.

Here’s an interview with father and son after this afternoon’s game:

Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day, and instead of wearing green and feeling too much like Notre Dame fans, we decided to celebrate more like Hoyas would.

Each year, on March 17, we at Hoya Hoops honor Georgetown’s very own St. Patrick.

Tony and son, St. Patrick’s Day 2007

It turns out that this year, Sports Illustrated had the same idea: Honoring Ewing on St. Patrick’s Day

• The Orlando Magic defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Chamionship on Saturday, earning them a place in the NBA Finals against the LA Lakers. Patrick Ewing will be on the bench coaching the Magic on Thursday when the series begins.
• Reggie Williams was recently hired to be the Boys’ Varsity Head Coach at Towson Catholic High School in Baltimore, MD.
• Jeff Green will be one of 20-24 players participating in the Team USA training camp in Las Vegas this summer. If he does well, he may be participating in the World Championships in 2010 representing the United States.

• This past week was Senior Week at Georgetown, and on Saturday was Georgetown’s Commencement. With seniors Jessie Sapp, Bryon Jansen, and manager Chris Golski all graduating from the College, there were plenty of Hoyas in attendance. Coach Thompson was watching along with Jason Clark, Julian Vaughn, Nikita Mescheriakov, and recent graduate Tyler Crawford.
• While no HoyaHoops team members were present at Senior Ball on Friday, Roy Hibbert was in attendance and kinda hard to miss.
• In the NBA Playoffs, there were two Game 7s yesterday and both had Hoya implications. In the first game, the Houston Rockets lost to the L.A. Lakers 89-70. With Dikembe announcing his retirement last month, he has lost his final chance at an NBA ring.
• In the second Game 7, the Orlando Magic defeated the reigning Boston Celtics 101-82 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Before the game, Magic Assistant Patrick Ewing had guaranteed victory for Orlando.
• Early last week, Georgetown’s Athletic Director Bernard Muir accepted the position of Director of Athletics and Recreation Services at the University of Delaware. There’s been no word on Muir’s replacement at Georgetown.

It was a Monday night in April of 1984. Two of the premier big men in the world of college basketball were going head to head for the National Championship. It was the first time that Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon met on the court, starting a rivalry that would continue for over a decade into the NBA.
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In preparation of the 20th anniversary celebration of Georgetown’s National Championship on Saturday, we’re going through Five Things Every Hoya Fan Should Know about the 1984 team. We’ve already told you things #1 and #2; now we’re giving you the third thing you should know.

Too Close for Comfort

Georgetown’s 1984 NCAA tournament was almost cut short after one game. In their opening game of the tournament, Georgetown faced Southern Methodist led by Jon Koncak. The Mustangs played a very tight zone defense and used a very deliberate pace. In those days, there was no three-point line and no shot clock. SMU led the Hoyas at halftime 24-16. The Hoyas stormed out in the second half to take a six point lead, but the Mustangs tied the game in the final minute. The Hoyas’ senior co-captain and defensive specialist Gene Smith went to line for a one-and-one with the score knotted at 34. A defensive rebound would have given SMU a chance to hold for the final shot to upset the Hoyas. Smith was a 59% free throw shooter. Smith missed the front end, but in a remarkable yet characteristic display of his unparalleled combination of grace, athleticism, and determination, Patrick Ewing tipped in the rebound to put the Hoyas up by two. The Hoyas added a free throw seconds later, and an inconsequential last second basket for SMU made the final score 37-36.

• After our week of buildup, Patrick Ewing was finally inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, being by his former coach and mentor, John Thompson.
• The Big East has finally released their conference schedule for the upcoming season. The Hoyas will face a tough challenge right off the bat as they start the Big East season at Connecticut, home against Pittsburgh, and then away at Notre Dame. Once we get the final schedule with the remaining non-conference games from Mex, we’ll be sure to update our schedule page and give you links for your Google Calendars/Outlook/iCal/whatevers.

So Patrick Ewing is finally getting into the Hall of Fame tonight. If you want to see the ceremony, it will be displayed live on NBA TV and ESPN Classic tonight at 7:30 PM.

In honor of Pat’s big day, we’ve decided to have some fun with you all. Write a hoyku about Patrick Ewing and post it in the comments. Here’s ours, taken from Tony’s favorite Patrick memory.

The ref can’t reach it
The ball is stuck in the net
Patrick saves the day

Congratulation to Patrick and to whoever comes up with the best poem.

Do you all know Billy Crystal? I’ve always thought he was a pretty good comedian. He was great on Saturday Night Live, with his crazy characters like Fernando of “You Look Marvelous” fame, and Willie the masochistic security guard. Plus, his incredible Sammy Davis Jr. impression is one of the best ever. Of course he’s had lots of funny movies like City Slickers (and II), and Analyze This (and That). Plus he was the voice of Mike Wazowski in the hilarious Disney/Pixar movie Monsters Inc. But, of all of the very funny and wild things about Billy Crystal, the funniest and craziest thing of all is that he is a Los Angeles Clippers fan. That’s not a joke.
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