Paul Hewitt to George Mason: A good move for both parties
That didn't take long: Paul Hewitt is coaching again. (AP photo)
Yeah, I’m surprised. I thought a man sitting on a $7.1 million buyout would kick back, work in TV for a year or so — and he’d be good on TV — and then consider his next coaching move. You know, do it the way Steve Lavin did it. But no.
Paul Hewitt, recently of Georgia Tech, has taken the George Mason job that came open when Jim Larranaga left for Miami, which had a vacancy because Frank Haith left for Missouri, which needed a coach because Mike Anderson went back to Arkansas, which started all this by firing John Pelphrey about the same time Tech fired Hewitt. Got that?
My immediate thought: As career restarts go, George Mason is about as a good place as you can find. It’s a brand-name mid-major that has proved it can reach the Final Four, and hiring a former ACC man — a man who led Tech to the 2004 NCAA title game — is a nice get for Mason.
That’s correct. This persistent Hewitt critic has just given Mason a thumbs-up. Because there was a time when I believed he was the next great college coach. He did mostly excellent work his first five seasons at Tech, and I figured it was only a matter of time before he established this as no worse than the third-best program in the Tiffany League on an annual basis.
It didn’t happen, and for the life of me I don’t know why. I’ve never seen a coach of such obvious talent have a program unravel so completely. After three outright losing seasons in four tries, it was time for Tech to move on, and it has. And now Hewitt is moving on, too, and good for him.
He’ll do well at George Mason. The Patriots have almost everybody back from a team that was a creditable No. 8 seed in this year’s NCAA field. (Mason beat Villanova in Round 1 and lost by 32 points to Ohio State in Round 2.) Hewitt proved here he could handle inherited players: He took Bobby Cremins’ leftovers, Tony Akins and Alvin Jones among them, and made the NCAA tournament his first season.
And the best part about George Mason? That’s a school not known for having one-and-dones. Hewitt might not be able to sign the biggest names there, but those players he does sign he figures to keep for four years.
Oh, and one thing more: Hewitt won’t be a stranger to Atlanta. George Mason is in the Colonial League, same as Georgia State. Those teams play every year. Hewitt has even won in the GSU Sports Arena. Might want to keep him away from the Kennesaw State Convocation Center, though.
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
63 comments Add your comment
Kristen
May 1st, 2011
9:45 am
I’m excited about this move. I’m a George Mason student who has grown up a die hard GT fan. I feel that this program doesn’t need a coach known for building. Coach L did that for us.
I do have one correction, GMU is in the Colonial Athletic Association. Not the Colonial League.
Gordon
May 1st, 2011
11:54 am
I’m the last one to defend Hewitt’s contract, but there is something that people always forget. If Tech hadn’t offered Hewitt the rollover deal, they would have had to offer him much more money ($1.8M or so) to keep him. By the time he left Tech, his salary was average at best in the ACC. So part of that 7.2M for the next 5 years would have been paid in the last 6 years anyway with a higher salary. The rollover ended up being a bad deal for Tech, but not as bad as most people think. If Hewitt had continued to perform at anywhere near what people thought he would, it would seem like a great move now. Hindsight is 20/20.
GT
May 1st, 2011
12:05 pm
Their are coaches that stay with the status quo. Hewitt and Richt are these kind of coaches. They seem to go year in and year out playing in conference competition never seeming to learn or respect what is being done against them, and never changing their coaching styles. In Richt case it is to live and die with the pass. Other SEC schools have adapted a superior running game that eats up the clock wears down the defense and scores often in the fourth quarter. They have dominant nose guards and defensive tackles that corrupt the other team’s offense from a down position while Georgia sticks with fast but physically unimpressive linebackers, recuited to stop a pass that never comes. Hewitt could not develop point guards, teach fundamentals or condition his teams. The conference had and has past them by. The programs of other schools particularly in the SEC have improved while the programs of Richt and Hewitt stayed pretty much the same. They are pretty much playing at the same pace they were 5 years ago, but everybody else has picked it up. It is like wearing the same dress to every party. At first it takes the breath and others copy, then it become old hat. Hewitt will find the young hungry minds of the Colonial even more improving and challenging each year. They will take a couple of years to figure this guy and his style out but when they do he is finished there like he was at Tech.
Paul Hewitt to George Mason? A good move for both parties | Mark … |
May 1st, 2011
10:13 pm
[...] here: Paul Hewitt to George Mason? A good move for both parties | Mark … This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged ajc, bradley, criticized-at-georgia, george, [...]
The Anti-BuzzDraft
May 1st, 2011
10:31 pm
I laugh when I read these GT blogs, CPH has moved on maybe many of you should move on from the hate?
Andrew Rochester
May 1st, 2011
10:38 pm
Solid info! I wonder if this’ll show up on CoachWatcher. CW is the place to go for all the coaching info, news, and rumors. http://www.CoachWatcher.com
UGA=YAWN
May 2nd, 2011
7:44 am
Do we not have to pay him now that he has another coaching job?
UGA=YAWN
May 2nd, 2011
7:45 am
AntiBuzz – we don’t HATE him. We just felt he should have been fired about 3 or 4 years ago and we are glad he is gone.
jarvis
May 2nd, 2011
8:59 am
Washington Post is reporting that Hewitt’s buyout is “expected to shrink” since he’s re-employed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/george-mason-hires-paul-hewitt-as-mens-basketball-coach/2011/04/30/AFkwUrMF_story.html
Any idea where they are getting that?
Tell It Like It Is
May 2nd, 2011
10:05 am
I wonder what Tech’s record would have been if coach Hewitt could have kept some of his blue chippers for more than 2 years. I thought he was a good coach considering the circumstances. I do not think that the new coach can recruit and retain the quality players needed to win in the ACC.
I wish PH the best at George Mason. He is a quality person.
Freddie Miller
May 2nd, 2011
1:06 pm
Hewitt will probably win a national championship at GM. I am still glad he is gone.
Tech’s President needs to help out the Georgia Tech Athletic Association by being available to the head coaches PERSONALLY to help out with athletes’ academic issues. The school president can push through the Hill’s roadblocks.
Mason Alum
May 2nd, 2011
4:24 pm
Ok, now Paul Hewit gets to recruit against the likes of Georgetown, Maryland, George Washington, and the rest of the ACC, Big East, and CAA. As a GMU alum and member of the Patriot Club I can only say, he wasn’t my first choice, nor was he on my list. Most of us were hoping for Jeff Jones from AU or Mike Lonergan from Vermont. PH will have our support, but he’s got big shoes to fill.
Funny tho, he inherits a better team than he left, and a a better team than Larranaga got at Miami.
From Earlier…GMU is in Fairfax VA, which is in the close in DC suburb of Faifax, VA. George Mason the man was a contempory of George Washington and wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights which was the starting point for the US Bill of Rights. Read some US history…..or at least some Wikipedia….
William Casey
May 2nd, 2011
4:55 pm
I believe that CPH will run a good program at George Mason. I agree with the poster who commented that his on-court success will depend on getting good assistants to actually teach the game. Coach Hewitt always struck me as a good CEO & recruiter. Not-so-hot as a teacher or game tactician. I will always believe that he had the misfortune to have been screwed over by Crittenden. Had Critt stayed through his junior year, the whole history of GT’s program since ‘04 might have been quite different.