Hewitt is staying: Tech fans, how do you feel? UPDATED
Georgia Tech has now confirmed that Paul Hewitt has turned down St. John’s. Here’s the school’s official statement:
Georgia Tech head basketball coach Paul Hewitt said Thursday afternoon that he will remain at the Institute and is no longer a candidate for the head coaching position at St. John’s University.
Hewitt, 46, just completed his 10th season at the helm of the Yellow Jackets’ program, guiding Tech to a 23-13 overall record. The Jackets advance to the championship game of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and earned a berth in the NCAA Championship for the fifth time, where it defeated Oklahoma State in the first round before being eliminated by Ohio State.
“My family and I have developed deep ties to Georgia Tech and the city of Atlanta,” said Hewitt. “I strongly believe in what Georgia Tech can do for young people, and I am committed to returning the Tech basketball program to the level of success our fans have come to expect. We took a step in that direction this past season, and I fully intend to continue on that path.”
Hewitt, who has record of 177-144 at Georgia Tech, ranks third among active coaches in the ACC in games coached and fourth in career victories. He ranks 18th in career victories all-time. He has taken the Yellow Jackets to six post-season berths, including one NIT appearance, twice to the championship game of the ACC Tournament and the championship of the 2003 Preseason NIT.
“I think what has transpired over the last few days speaks volumes about Paul Hewitt and about Georgia Tech,” Tech director of athletics Dan Radakovich said. “Paul’s credentials as a human being, a family man, a leader and a builder of character are impeccable. All of us at Georgia Tech are committed to assist him in providing an outstanding men’s basketball program.”
If you’re a Tech fan, how do you feel? Relieved that your coach is staying? Disappointed that he’s staying?
My thoughts on what Hewitt staying would mean for him and Tech will be forthcoming, but I’d be obliged to hear yours. Thanks in advance.
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538 comments Add your comment
WOODY HARELSON
March 25th, 2010
5:40 pm
Duke gets all the good slow white boys who can’t jump and they hang around 4 to 5 years and GRADUATE!
Mr T from C
March 25th, 2010
6:08 pm
I’m glad he’s staying.
He represents the school well. His players stay out of trouble (at least until they get to the NBA). He recruits well. Every once in a while he gives us a wild run that shows what he’s capable of.
On the down side, his players don’t have an enviable graduation rate. He doesn’t win enough conference games. He sometimes gets pissy with the media. Do I wish we’d win more consistently? Well, duh, yeah!
Could be worse. Could be raining. Or we could have Calipari (sic?), who gets great players, wins a lot of games, and leaves a stench everywhere he goes. I would rather have a second-level program that is above-board.
I am convinced that he and Drad had a conversation over the past couple of days, and if Drad had said something along the lines of “you’ve got a good chance to get out of here, take it,” Hewitt would have taken it.
I’m trusing Radakovich.
P.S. I don’t care if UGA runs this state. That rivalry is overrated. We play baseball, basketball and football in the ACC. I love winning the historic rivalry game, but in any given season I’d rather have a win that gets us into any sport’s ACC championship game than a win over UGA in the same season.
YeoolwJacket69
March 25th, 2010
6:09 pm
The performance of the Georgia Tech men’s basketball team, over the last ten years, has been much worse than we hoped for. The hateful retoric in many of the posts above is just as unacceptable. I am for Georgia Tech no matter what. I expect the AD to direct the necessary changes to improve the performance of the men’s basketball team and I expect we will hold him accountable for doing that.
Techhoopster
March 25th, 2010
6:12 pm
I for one am glad Coach Hewitt is staying at Tech. He is a class guy and now we need to get behind him and the program and support him. Yes, I am a Tech fan.
Yellow Jacket 69
March 25th, 2010
6:15 pm
Johns Creek Jacket is a wise person. Hope DRad is listening.
Satchmo
March 25th, 2010
6:40 pm
I want Tech to win, CPH is not Cremins, but if he can get out of recruiting “the one and done” player and get a commitment for longer, we will win. If he left, who would we get? Most likely, a mid tier coach or worst, so support our guy another year, did go 3-1 against the Divas of the ACC in the regular season.
Boo Hoo
March 25th, 2010
6:41 pm
Another 3 years of 20 turnovers and 60% free throw shooting, not to mention a 40% win percentage in the ACC. I’m so excited I can’t stand it…..
wes
March 25th, 2010
6:42 pm
Mark,
would you offer to renegotiate the contract if you were in his shoes?
I sure as hell wouldn’t. 7.1 mill is 7.1 mill.
UGA is yesterdays news
March 25th, 2010
7:13 pm
Pissed is right. He needs to leave or be fired. Nothing will change – it never does. 1 winning ACC record in 10 years. What is his road ACC record? Gotta be awful. The empty seats at the basketball arena next year will only increase. People would be fools to renew or go – that only shows your support for him. Who wants to watch players that don’t understand any fundamentals about the REAL game of basketball? Street ball is not the way. Love it when our player threw that long pass across the court to our other player and he watched as it sailed by him and out of bounds – turnover! How surprising!
Texas Buzz
March 25th, 2010
7:18 pm
Its all my fault… In May of 2004, I stood at an alumni event in Austin and had a 1:1 conversation with CPH for 15-20 minutes… well 2:1, my wife (also an alum) stood by for morale support. This was the height of CPH’s success… fresh off the final 4. We talked about developing student athletes, finding players that fit in at Tech, and the struggles to build team chemistry when players come and go so quickly. If you recall, this was a few months after the story broke at UGA around the famous final exam questions. I told CPH that I didn’t care if he ever won a championship (ACC or NCAA), just don’t embarrass GT with that kind of scandal. On that front, he has kept his end of the bargain… sorry about that… I’m still 100% behind CPH.
Would I like to see some changes… absolutely…
I certainly would like to see team chemistry be a focus. Plenty of good coaching books on that topic… maybe even ask Zinger his secrets for Ryder Cuppers. I was shocked to learn that it took taking their cell phones away during the ACC tournament before they would talk to each other…
On the basketball x’s and o’s- well, I wish we’d adopt some new tactics… I love the way Ohio St pushes the outlet pass off the rebound. We very, very rarely push the ball up off a missed shot. We were complacent to wait for the traffic to clear, and then beat our heads against a set half court defense. Our bigs ran the floor as well as any team, so I don’t buy the argument that it would take away from their touches. I also don’t buy the argument that we’re sloppy with the ball and it would lead to more turnovers. We certainly didn’t avoid turnovers running our set plays. Next year’s team will have to rebound by committee, so we need to have a style that allows an Oliver or Rice to lead the break like the Ohio St’s guards.
I wonder how much of the 2004 credit belongs to the assistant coaches… maybe we need to hire a former Duke point guard to teach how to protect the ball, how to value every possession, how to get the lead and not let the other team back into the game, how to break down the other team’s weakness and exploit it. (This was talked about a lot in 2004… assistant coaches building specific game plans.)
I think CPH can right the ship, he just needs to get back to coaching the team and not individual skills. Mark B… call off the attack and go focus on whether Bobby Cox should be fired for picking his nose on TV.
Oh! No!
March 25th, 2010
7:27 pm
That’s terrible. Hewitt is the worst game coach in the ACC and I thought we had a chance for him to leave w/o the buyout. He should have taken it because he will likely get fired next year w/o the St. Johns option.
Ramblin Man
March 25th, 2010
7:27 pm
The biggest problem with Hewitt is the excuses he keeps making about being a young team of predominantly freshman and sophomores. He has been using this excuse for the last 3 years I know of. When I e mailed him on 2/20 after they lost a game with 1.5 seconds on clock and his team played like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, he e-mailed me back and told me I was clueless. He then gave the same excuse about being mostly freshman & sophomores. He also told me that they had put together 3 very good games in a row. Didn’t bother to say they had lost 2 of the 3. Also told me they would close this season strong and go into NCAA’s with momentum. Guess what? They lost the last 2 regular season games.
Tech needs to stop turning over the ball so much and learn to shoot free throws. Doing those two things and they would have won at least 5 or 6 more games.
AlabamaRamblinwreck
March 25th, 2010
7:31 pm
Mark:
Can you guys see that nothing ever changes with his teams’ style of play? It is very painful and difficult to enjoy. His teams’ have so much lack of discipline that they never can put inferior teams away, and they very seldom, if ever, win games they are not suppose to win, talentwise. If his teams played good, fundamental basketball and lost, all of us could still enjoy watching, even with the losses. But watching his teams play, even when they win, is not entertaining, it is exascerbating!!!
AlabamaRamblinwreck
March 25th, 2010
7:32 pm
No, I am not happy he is staying, because I do not believe he will do the following:
INSTILL TOUGH ACCOUNTABILITY & DISCIPLINE
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 25th, 2010
7:42 pm
Paul Hewitt has shown loyalty to Georgia Tech, the least we can do is show loyalty back to him.
COLLEGE of CHARLESTON
March 25th, 2010
7:45 pm
Enter your comments here
Loyal my ass
March 25th, 2010
7:47 pm
Loyal to a losing ACC record and millions of bucks to be mediocre.
Incompetence fo MILLIONS
March 25th, 2010
7:54 pm
7.1 million fot a losing ACC record…………
…………………………………….what a bargain in these tough economic times !
tim
March 25th, 2010
7:54 pm
What’s the big f****** deal? He signed a contract to coach Ga Tech and he is obligated to fulfill it. Hewitts reasons for staying should be that and only that.
blackprix
March 25th, 2010
7:57 pm
We’re stuck with him, at least until the GTAA gets out of it financial funk!!!!
I’m very disappointed … same old Tech Basketball to come …!!!!
blackprix
March 25th, 2010
7:59 pm
Some team from a warm, inviting climate needs to go after Hewitt, then maybe his wife will say YES!!
blackprix
March 25th, 2010
8:01 pm
DRad:
I suggest you take 7 million out of the 45 million you look to raise for renovation of Alex Memorial Coliseum to get rid of Hewitt!! Renovating the place won’t get fans into the seats, but removing the problem will.
Nate
March 25th, 2010
8:08 pm
I’m actually happy about this. I still think Coach Hewitt has a lot of potential and we can still accomplish some great things. Perhaps he needs to do a little less awesome in recruiting and stop sending some many players to the NBA after a year. I just hope we can look back on this in a year or two and say this season was a turning point. GO JACKETS.
UGA Slobberknocker
March 25th, 2010
8:14 pm
Great news….for Dawg fans.
Decatur Tech Fan
March 25th, 2010
8:15 pm
Tell me Im dreaming…its still Wednesday and St Johns and Pewwitt are going to talk about the opening up there.
WordofMouth
March 25th, 2010
8:15 pm
No team south of the mason dixon line has enough “lack of common sense” to hire this guy.
GT Fan...
March 25th, 2010
8:30 pm
With the talent Hewitt has reeled in to GT, his horrific ACC record, after TEN SEASONS, should tell any reasonably intelligent individual that he should NOT be GT’s head coach.
As a GT fan I feel like I’m being held prisoner by Hewitt & his family b/c the terms of his contract. I can only hope that after next season’s sub-.500 ACC record, the GT Athletic Assoc has enough $$ to fire this “nice man”. He is hearing (or already knows) how many GT fans and alumni feel about him, yet his lack of integrity (a.k.a. greed) have he & his family playing warden.
Maybe he could recruit Andy Dufrain!
GTfanForerver
March 25th, 2010
8:57 pm
Here’s the real deal. Perhaps the real reason for the loss is the lack of support by us. What is most important is that the program is successful. We’ve had some bad luck and some disappointments, but we are primed for a great run. None of this year’s starter played together last year. 3 Frosh, 1 Jr. and one returning from surgery. Next year will be different and, I think, even better. Look at Cornell – 8 Seniors = Sweet 16. Let’s support the team, including the coach. We are starting to sound like the losers up the highway.
wisconsin GT fan
March 25th, 2010
8:58 pm
why all the negative about him, anyone know how much st. john was going to give him, he is a good coach stop looking at his skin color same old south never change, he is winning the team is young,
Jerry
March 25th, 2010
9:22 pm
Hewitt shouldnt be blamed for recruiting great players. No coach can put together a solid team when every NBA team is pulling his players before they start the problem is with the NBA signing rules
NYJacket
March 25th, 2010
9:24 pm
Man, I don’t look forward to 20 TO’s per game. Shooting about 50% from the line. And, winning about 2 away games per year in the ACC.
And, going to the NCAA tournament about every three years doesn’t do much for me.
Paul dresses well, recruits well, runs a clean program and projects a good businesslike image for Tech. But, we could find a lot of guys who can do that for a lot less than $1.3 Million a year.
I really think that amount of money should result in exciting basketball that puts “butts in the seats”, teaches great players how to get the ball inbounded and break a press, and consistently challenges for the ACC championship.
To me, it is about the money. He should earn it.
v8 cat
March 25th, 2010
9:38 pm
We are better-off with him than without him. People that want to make his life a “living hell” are very sick and remind me of the UGA fans we make fun of.
LL Anderson
March 25th, 2010
9:46 pm
The only time I have seen more stealing of money is the employees working for FEMA…I agree with Bobby Cremins, double Pa Jo’s salary and let him coach the BBall team!
Delbert D.
March 25th, 2010
9:47 pm
My problem is more with the NBA. Hewitt recruits talent, but then you have the horrible situation with the NBA using colleges as one year 5-on-5 talent camps. But Duke doesn’t seem to lose as many players after 1 year, so maybe Hewitt recruits too high. Fewer McDonalds’ All-Americans may be an answer.
Justin Vaitekunas
March 25th, 2010
9:48 pm
Bring back Pie Face O’Leary…he runs a tight ship and even managed to run me off the Flats. At least there would not be a lack of discipline and the players would actually HIT their free-throws or fear the rath of the Big Bee!
Luke Anderson
March 25th, 2010
9:49 pm
Let Doogie coach the damn team!
Tweets that mention Reports have Hewitt staying: Tech fans, how do you feel? | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
March 25th, 2010
9:54 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Bradley, Steven Little. Steven Little said: NOOOOOOO! RT @MarkBradleyAJC Reports have Paul Hewitt staying at Georgia Tech. How do you feel about that, Jacket fans? http://bit.ly/bCfIwS [...]
GTpak
March 25th, 2010
10:22 pm
Flash Forward: Just think that in 2050 when Hewitt finally retires, his $1.3 million will be only worth about $100k.
I’m not sure that I can wait that long. Let’s see his ACC record then should be something like 400 wins and 1250 losses. ( I don’t think he will get better, just worse, no incentive to do better with a contract like that). Alexander Memorial coliseum will then have been reduced to 1000 seats, but only half sold out. Shades of Dwayne Morrison…….
Only 40 more years, I can’t wait….
Big Bob
March 25th, 2010
10:30 pm
I am thrilled that he is staying at Tech. As long as he is at Tech, the DAWGS will continue to dominate the insects.
Geori
March 25th, 2010
10:46 pm
Awful news for Tech. And we thought we had a miracle to get us rid of an awful game coach and his golden contract.
chuck allison
March 26th, 2010
12:25 am
I am extremely disappointed at the prospect of one more season with Hewitt. The vast majority of Tech fans want him GONE..to St. Johns, to Haiti, to anywhere out of state.
Tweets that mention Reports have Hewitt staying: Tech fans, how do you fee;? | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
March 26th, 2010
12:28 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ajai Karthikeyan, Peter Hjort and jm, Fire Paul Hewitt. Fire Paul Hewitt said: Not too good. RT @MarkBradleyAJC: Reports have Hewitt staying: Tech fans, how do you feel? http://bit.ly/91JWXl [...]
Glad HEWITT IS STAYING!!!!!!!!!!!
March 26th, 2010
12:41 am
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Jason Bored
March 26th, 2010
12:42 am
What a loaded question? I bet about 75% of fans (not bloggers) will ADMIT they are disappointed. I imagine about half of the remaining 25% are quietly disappointed but they’re just putting on a smiley face like D-Rad asked them to.
Jason Bored
March 26th, 2010
12:47 am
Disappointed in Hewitt, but not surprised. Both disappointed and surprised at D-Rad. It’s not his fault that Hewitt didn’t take the St. Johns job, but it is absolutely his fault that he did not take the opportunity to fire Hewitt, after also missing last year’s disastrous season as the springboard to fire him. The money issue is a wash. Tech will easily lose more by keeping him and destroying the program.
Jason Bored
March 26th, 2010
12:48 am
Just heard on the news that Hewitt claims that since he’s received “20 or 30 blackberry messages” supporting him he is sure there are far more supporters than critics of his return. Now I don’t care who you are, that is funny.
Jason Bored
March 26th, 2010
12:50 am
Glad. I h-h-h-hope you get that stuttering problem taken care of. Your repetitive, uncreative message reminds me of the repeated errors in Hewitt-coached games.
Jason Bored
March 26th, 2010
12:55 am
It is not surprising that Hewitt loses to UGA, he is doing all he can to bring us down to their level. Academically, their maligned basketball program is better than ours (by narrow margins in classroom and graduation metrics), and that includes the Harrick years. Not even counting the NBA defectors, Georgia Tech has the lowest graduation rate in the ACC for the decade Hewitt has been here. IF they’d had more than one winning season in the conference during that time, it might be understandable, but not excusable. But hell, we’re both stupid and sorry, and that is something we should never have to admit to with UGA sitting across us in the same state. We can’t play the “academics” card anymore as long as we have coaches like Hewitt on board.
Jason Bored
March 26th, 2010
12:58 am
Dan Radakovich, this one is on you, bud. You want to be Paul Hewitt’s buddy, you got it. Your career is now tied to his, not just to Paul Johnson’s.
AMG
March 26th, 2010
1:00 am
He is absolutely ignorant of what his situation really is. No one wants him here now, next year when he complains about whatever the excuse is he will be kicked out the door.