?”18904″ “2009-04-24 05:51:22” “Hoyas Dominate at the X” “sports” “44” “Men’s Lacrosse” “575” “2009-04-24” “Ryan Travers ” “?

“18905” “2009-04-24 05:59:45” “Well-Traveled Ewing Back on the Market” “sports” “14” “Men’s Basketball” “575” “2009-04-24” “Kevin Wessel ” “If seniors think it’s tough to land a job, they should talk to Patrick Ewing Jr.

Ewing (COL ’08) was drafted in the second round of last June’s NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings, traded to the Houston Rockets and then shipped to the New York Knicks. The son of the former Georgetown and Knicks star quickly became a fan favorite in the Big Apple, thrilling the crowd with his energetic play and SportsCenter dunks in the preseason. Yet Ewing was the team’s last cut before the season began – a decision some attribute to the Knicks’ desire to avoid cutting players with big contracts.

“It was something that I had wanted to do since I was little so I definitely enjoyed it, per se,” Ewing said two weeks ago. “I felt that I should have been on the team throughout the year, but management thought the players that they had at the time – that they couldn’t get rid of their contracts, and because my contract was the smallest, that getting rid of me would be the more marketable thing rather than spending a couple hundred, a couple million to get rid of some of the more veteran players that have bigger contracts.”

Team president Donnie Walsh said money was not a factor in the decision; rather they wanted the shooting ability of guard Anthony Roberson, who beat out Ewing for the last spot. Roberson had a guaranteed contract for about $800,000, while Ewing was signed for the league minimum of $430,000, which was not all guaranteed.

Catching on in the D-League

Ewing was still able to find work in pro ball when he signed with the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Developmental League in December. Playing in Reno, “The Biggest Little City in the World,” seemed fitting for Ewing, who used the small stage of the NBA D-League to post big numbers. He averaged 16.8 points per game, 8.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists through 30 games.

“People got to see a different side of my game that they didn’t get to see when I was in college,” Ewing said. “[It was] just a more offensive game. A more all-around, complete game . It’s more me being the main player-type role, which I wasn’t here [at Georgetown]. But it was cool. I enjoyed it a lot.”

Ewing also showed a different look at the free-throw line, improving his percentage from the charity stripe by 10 percent from his senior year at Georgetown. He scored at least 19 points and averaged 11 rebounds in his last six games, helping the Bighorns to a 5-1 record over that period. Ewing’s season ended when he tore his MCL, and he has since been back to the Georgetown campus as he recovers.

“After I recover, I’m a free agent now. So I’m just taking looks from different teams to see what they’re talking about, and the next couple of months I’ll decide which team that I’ll hopefully sign with,” Ewing said. “And if that doesn’t work out, maybe go overseas or back in the D-League for one more year.”

Ewing said that teams cannot talk officially now since the season is still underway, but he thinks he has a good shot of making an NBA roster.

Keeping Tabs on the Hoyas

In his first year out of college, Ewing still talks to all of his old teammates – Tyler Crawford (COL ’08), Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert (COL ’08) and Jonathan Wallace (COL ’08) – despite where their basketball careers have taken them across the nation and world. Green and Hibbert are both in the NBA, while Crawford and Wallace plied their trade in Europe this season.

“Jeff’s having a great year. Jeff’s playing really well. Roy, when he stays out of foul trouble – he’s playing great,” Ewing said. “Jon’s enjoying a successful year in Germany right now. Tyler was in Slovenia. He was with Jon for a bit and then he went to Serbia. He was in Serbia for a while and then he came back. Now he’s making plans for where he wants to play next year.”

Ewing, the former Big East sixth man of the year, kept up with the current Hoyas, as well.

“It’s a disappointing season for everyone, and hopefully next year things will get better, and I think they will,” he said of Georgetown’s 16-15 campaign. “Coach [John Thompson III] is a great coach. He runs a great system. One that he’s been successful with and one that has had produced players like myself, Jeff, Roy, Jon and Tyler. If he can get the players to learn how to play within the system, I think they can make the Final Four again.”

Ewing flew to New York to watch Georgetown play against Syracuse in the Carrier Dome in mid-February. He also tuned in whenever the Hoyas were on television and had some advice for his old team.

When asked if he thought the team’s problem was a lack of experience, Ewing said, “I don’t know if it’s experience. I think they’ve got to learn to play together: To play as a team and know their roles and know that everyone can’t be the star. Every team has one, maybe two star players, but everybody can’t be that player. Once they learn that, I think they’ll be a great team.”

Thompson, when asked about his former player’s assessment, said: “Patrick loves to play armchair quarterback. He played armchair quarterback when he was on the team. . You do have to understand that Patrick Ewing was a star on last year’s team and it shows up in ways that not always are what people are socialized to think – scored this amount of points.”

As Ewing again begins to search for a job in the NBA, he will be joined in the market by former teammate DaJuan Summers. Ewing said that Summers has the talent to be drafted in the middle of the first round, but that Summers’ and the team’s inconsistent performance this year could cause him to drop to the second round. But as Ewing proved with his year in Reno, there are plenty of paths to success in professional basketball.

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