Patrick Ewing Georgetown Salary: How Much Will New Hoops Coach Be Paid To Lead Hoyas?

Basketball legend Patrick Ewing's return to Georgetown University was a triumphant one after he accepted a job offer to lead his college alma mater's men's basketball program as its next head coach. The move was all but sure to energize its loyal fan base after the team sputtered to an unremarkable finish in the 2016-17 season.

Ewing was seemingly a natural choice, as the Hall Of Famer who has been an assistant coach in the NBA for years previously propelled the Hoyas to its one and only national championship more than three decades ago. He was seen as someone who could bring authenticity to a program that once was the golden standard for so-called big men in college hoops.

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The 7-foot-tall center was the top pick in the 1985 NBA Draft and retired as an 11-time All Star. He was the New York Knicks' all-time leading scorer, rebounder and blocker over the course of 17 seasons of playing professionally, 15 with the Knicks. Prior to that, Ewing was also named the most outstanding player of the NCAA championship in 1984 in his third Final Four and third title game. Decades later, his namesake son would go on to become a star for the same program he helped bring to national prominence.

It was that impressive resume and strong ties to the school that will likely earn him a hefty pay day from Georgetown, which made no secret that Ewing was not its top choice for its next coach. The school offered the job to at least two other people, who rebuffed the propositions to stay with their respective programs.

While no official salary figures were immediately announced, rumor was that Georgetown was offering compensation in the neighborhood of $4 million annually, according to Sports Illustrated. If true, that would immediately launch Ewing, who has never been a head coach on any level, among the game's top paid coaches.

For Georgetown, the men's basketball coaching position has been all but a family affair for decades. Ewing will be replacing the son of his own Georgetown head coach, John Thompson, who led the program for 27 seasons before retiring in 1999, when his longtime assistant Craig Esherick took over. But Thompson's son, John Thompson III (JT3) was hired to lead the Hoyas in 2004. JT3 reached the Final Four in 2007 but failed to match or exceed that success for the remaining of his tenure until his was fired late last month after 13 seasons.

JT3 was paid about $3.6 million a year, and that was after he had success as Princeton University's head coach for four seasons. Ewing returns to Georgetown without any head coaching experience, but the school's athletic officials were likely hoping his ties to the professional game would rejuvenate the program's recruiting efforts to lure top high school talent to the campus, as Thompson did for many years.

Ewing, who is currently an assistant coach with the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, was congratulated by the franchise after the news broke Monday afternoon.