The most entertaining sight at the Senior Class Auction was not watching prim and proper moms and dads dance terribly to Outkast’s “Hey Ya.” Nor was it witnessing sloshed parents throw away thousands of dollars on an “open bar party” at Rhino’s, where if you know the right bartender every night is an open bar. Instead, it was gazing at the bids for a dinner hosted by men’s basketball coach Craig Esherick. There were none for an hour. Eventually one person bid, maybe out of pity or to give coach a piece of their mind. Either way, a point was made.
Since Esherick took the reigns in 1999 from Hall of Fame coach John Thompson, the Hoyas have posted a deceptively impressive 103-69 record. The truth is, half those wins came against the Gramblings, Elons, and Norfolk States of college basketball. When it has mattered, in Big East play, Esherick’s teams are 12 games under .500 at 41-53. Not so intimidating for a prestigious program that produced NBA stars Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and Allen Iverson.
This year Hoya fans watched the bottom fall out. After a 10-0 start against teams that could lose to the Icelandic National Team, the Hoyas dropped 11 of their last 14 games, smacking them back to reality. Worst of all, Esherick’s teams have not beaten a top 25 opponent in its last 14 tries. Zero for 14. They almost broke the streak against No. 24 Syracuse last Saturday, but 28 percent shooting won’t win many games-even when opponents commit 25 turnovers. Esherick claims this is the best shooting squad he has had during his tenure on the Hilltop. If true, that’s just plain scary.
Coach Esherick might be a nice guy, but he is not the man for this job. In the past, Georgetown games were never pretty to watch, but Thompson’s teams reached 20 NCAA Tournaments in 24 years. In Esherick’s era, the only thing more common than bricks and poorly planned plays after timeouts is excruciating new ways to lose close games. The quadruple overtime loss to Notre Dame in 2002 epitomized these coaching blunders.
Yet for all that good ol’ coach has failed to do, from his poor recruiting to the team’s NCAA tourney drought, which will soon reach three seasons, he apparently proved enough to Athletic Director Joe Lang to get a contract extension through 2009. That’s like giving an Outback Steakhouse chef a promotion to Morton’s after a patron dies from undercooked meat. It doesn’t make sense. Georgetown’s administration must see something that the rest of us don’t, because to most Hoya faithful, the future looks bleak.
It could be different. Pittsburgh, a bottom-feeder for years, has made a remarkable turnaround under two up-and-coming coaches, Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon. Top-tier high school recruits want to play at Pitt because they know they will improve and they’ll have a shot at winning big games. Simultaneously, promising G’town ballers Demetrius Hunter, Harvey Thomas, and Tony Bethel transferred from Esherick’s Hoyas-unheard of during the days of John Thompson.
It’s so bad that this year’s team might not qualify for the Big East tournament for the first time in school history, which is more than embarrassing. Unless Georgetown administration takes some accountability for this demise, future Hoya squads will continue to lack respect from the rest of the country. The fans deserve better.
