Georgetown Basketball Hits New Low With Desperate Attempt To Boost Attendance

Georgetown’s men’s basketball program played its inaugural season all the way back in 1906, but it would take around 70 years for the program to find any sustained success—a turnaround that coincided with the hiring of head coach John Thompson, Jr. in 1972.

Thompson spent 27 seasons patrolling the sidelines for the Hoyas, and over that span, he transformed them into perennial March Madness contenders and secured the team’s first national championship (with a little bit of help from a guy named Patrick Ewing) by topping Houston in the title game in the 1984 NCAA Tournament.

The team had a bit of trouble finding its footing after the longtime coach resigned in 1999. However, it managed to return to form when his son John Thompson III took the reins in 2004, which kicked off a 13-year tenure that ended when he was fired at the end of the 2017 season.

The Hoyas ultimately tapped Ewing for the job in the hopes his time serving as an assistant coach for a handful of NBA teams would translate to success in college. Unfortunately, that has not been the case, as the notable alum has only been able to post a winning record once over the course of five full seasons.

As of this writing, Ewing has racked up a 72-89 record at Georgetown thanks in no small to an absolutely dismal 6-25 showing last season that saw Georgetown go 0-19 in Big East play.

Based on how things are currently looking, more pain will likely be on the menu once conference play kicks off this weekend, as a Hoyas squad that’s currently sitting at 4-5 hasn’t done much to inspire any real confidence based on how it’s fared against the comparatively mediocre teams that have comprised the bulk of its schedule so far.

It comes as no surprise fans aren’t exactly flocking to Capital One Arena to see Georgetown play in person; around 5,300 spectators were in attendance when they hosted South Carolina earlier this week, which was actually an improvement over the 4,100 who’d previously watched them play UMBC and the 3,200 who were there for the showdown with American.

Now, the once-proud program has arguably hit a new low. On Monday, the team announced any Washington, D.C. resident who wants to subject themselves to Wednesday’s game against Siena can score a free ticket by showing their ID.

That offer would be a nice gesture if it wasn’t for the obvious motivation behind it, and plenty of fans were quick to point out it’s a testament to just how far the formerly mighty team has fallen under Ewing.

While this might seem generous, it’s shows how low the program has fallen under the recent university leadership. It’s infuriating! Can’t even give them away. @HoyasAD

— Brad Shaw (@Bradfordshaw3) December 6, 2022

I’ve attended over a 100 game in my life. DC, MSG , even the sun dome when USF was still in the big East . But why would anybody want to watch this Ewing coached team? It’s an embarrassment and just a way to ruin your day

— Dan (@Roughneck_Dan) December 6, 2022

I would say Georgetown fans can take some solace in knowing there’s really nowhere to go but up from here, but that sadly might not actually be the case based on how things are trending.