Ewing hired as next Georgetown coach

Patrick Ewing has spent years grinding as an NBA assistant in hopes of one day leading a team of his own.

Little did he know that all of that waiting would lead him back to Georgetown, the school he helped build into a national power as a player in the 1980s.

Georgetown hired Ewing on Monday, bringing the Hoyas legend back to campus to take over a program that had fallen on hard times over the past two seasons.

In announcing the hire, Georgetown called Ewing “the greatest men’s basketball player to ever don the Blue (and) Gray.” He led the Hoyas to the school’s only national championship in 1984 and now he takes over for the son of the man who coached him at Georgetown.

John Thompson III, the son of Big John Thompson, was fired last month after consecutive losing seasons.

Ewing has been an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets and had hoped for years to land a head coaching job in the pros.

Ewing was a threetime All-American at Georgetown, a fearsome presence in the paint who led the Hoyas to three straight national title games. His dominance and Big John’s tenacity made the program an intimidating one while paving the way for a long line of great centers including Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo.

College basketball

AUSTIN PEAY HIRES SC

ASSISTANT >> Austin Peay is hiring South Carolina assistant Matt Figger as its next men’s basketball coach.

School officials announced Monday that Figger would be introduced at a Thursday news conference. Figger replaces Dave Loos, who retired last month.

Figger was part of a South Carolina staff that got the Gamecocks to the Final Four this year, a stunning postseason run for a program that hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1973. Figger worked for Gamecocks coach Frank Martin at Kansas State before following him to South Carolina in 2012.

Austin Peay athletic director Ryan Ivey said in a statement that “we couldn’t be more ecstatic to have him leading our program.”

Loos retired as the Ohio Valley Conference’s all-time leader in wins after coaching 27 seasons at Austin Peay.

NHL

NHL NOT GOING TO 2018

OLYMPICS >> The NHL is not going to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. The league announced its decision Monday afternoon, saying the matter was “officially closed.”

The league says no meaningful dialogue had materialized in talks with the NHLPA, International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation. The league wanted to close the matter before the playoffs, which begin April 13.

Team owners have complained that stopping the NHL season for three weeks every four years wasn’t worth it.

NHL players had participated in the previous five Olympics dating to 1998. Many players expressed a strong desire to go, and Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has said he plans to go regardless of NHL participation.

Golf

WALKER DIAGNOSED

WITH MONO >> PGA champion Jimmy Walker says he has been coping with mononucleosis that has contributed to his lethargic play.

Walker captured his first major last year with a wire-to-wire victory in the PGA Championship, contended in the second FedEx Cup playoff event and went 1-2 in his matches at Hazeltine when the United States won the Ryder Cup.

He has spent most of this year trying to figure out why he has felt so sluggish and finally was diagnosed with mono.

Walker said he began experiencing flu-like symptoms at Thanksgiving. The only tournaments he played after the Ryder Cup were a last-place finish at the HSBC Champions at Shanghai and a missed cut in Las Vegas. He also played in the Hero World Challenge in early December and tied for 15th in an 18man field in the Bahamas.

He said outside his family, only caddie Andy Sanders, swing coach Butch Harmon and his psychologist were aware.

Walker has broken par only one time in the final round this year, a 69 at Riviera. A week ago, he shot a 79 on Saturday and missed the 54-hole cut.