EW’ BE EW’
Patrick’s daughter Alexis making a name for herself — but hardly following famous dad’s footsteps
YOU don’t get to choose your name. Not as a child, anyway.
You wear it. Sometimes proudly. Sometimes quietly. Sometimes, literally, stitched in block letters across your back.
E-W-I-N-G conjures only one image in the D.C. metropolitan area, in New York, in the minds of anyone who watched the Hall of Fame center star with the Knicks and Georgetown and the Dream Team.
Patrick’s oldest son, Patrick Jr., was followed by his father’s 7-foot shadow at Georgetown and Indiana, becoming a second-round draft pick who appeared in seven NBA games. His youngest daughter, Alexis, didn’t want to follow her father’s path. It is understandable, given the weighty and unfair expectations attached to her legendary name. But that had nothing to do with it. “I just hate basketball,” Alexis said. “I hate how physical it is. I hate the running and sweaty people touching you. It wasn’t even because of [my father]. I just hated basketball. … I can watch it, but imagining myself playing it, like, ugh, I just can’t do it.
“He’s happy that I picked volleyball. He likes that I’m following my mom’s footsteps.”
Alexis’ mother, Cheryl Weaver, is a former professional volleyball player and her coach at Bullis School in Maryland, where the 16-year-old junior has developed into one of the top-ranked high school players in the country. Alexis recently committed to play at Penn State, a program with the second-most national championships (seven) in NCAA history.
ANEW generation sees the famous surname and thinks of the 6-foot-3 Ewing, who signed the first name, image and likeness (NIL) deal — with College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving — for a high school athlete in Maryland.
“It really started to hit me last year, when people would stop me and be like, ‘Are you Alexis Ewing? I love you. I see you all the time,’ ” Alexis said. “It’s like, wow, people actually know who I am. It’s so surprising. Little kids will ask to take pictures with me. I’m like, ‘What?’ It really blows my mind that people know who I am.
“I’m trying to be humble, but it’s nice to see my work is being appreciated because I work so hard. It’s nice to get that attention.”
Alexis was drawn to the arts and theater as a young child, then discovered an interest in tennis. Her mother — not Patrick — suggested her tall, athletic daughter try basketball, too.
“I remember going to a couple of her games when she did play and she was out there like a deer in the headlights,” Patrick said. “She chose the right sport.”
She didn’t begin playing volleyball until she was 12, but she has been around the game since she was born. As a 2-year-old, Alexis lived with her mother in Azerbaijan, where Weaver played professionally and brought her daughter to games (Patrick was then working stateside as an NBA assistant coach).
Weaver became a coach, but in time grew tired of the constant travel. She approached a local school (Bullis) about starting its own volleyball program, which Weaver began running in 2016. Alexis is now coached by her “best friend,” who inspired her to begin playing the sport and also was coached by her mother growing up.
“She appreciates the knowledge I have now and that I actually was a good player and that I know what I’m talking about,” Weaver said. “… The one thing that is sometimes difficult is after games, we take it home a lot. So we have this rule: I have five minutes to speak on what I want to speak on. Good, bad, whatever. I get those five minutes to talk as a coach, but as soon as we’re done with those five minutes, we can’t talk about it anymore. And that’s worked really well.
“There’ve been times, if it was a very frustrating game, I’ll be like, ‘Please, can I have more than five? And she’s like, ‘Mom? Fine. I’ll give you six.’ ”
Unlike with Alexis’ older siblings — including her sister Randi, who played volleyball at Fordham and Louisville — Patrick’s schedule now allows him to be a constant presence at her games.
From 2017 to 2023, Ewing was the head coach at nearby Georgetown. Now, the 61-yearold is working for the Charlotte Hornets as a coaching consul
“It really started tohit me last year, when people would stop me and be like, ‘Are you Alexis Ewing? I love you. I see you all the time.’ It’s like, wow, people actually know who I am.” — Alexis Ewing
tant, which requires him to travel only once per month.
On game days, you’ll find the 7-footer squeezed into the high school bleachers, screaming like he’s still on the sidelines.
“Oh, he’s loud,” Alexis said. “Very loud. The loudest person there. He’ll be like, ‘Boom,’ every time one of my teammates hits. … He’s so funny because he really has no clue what’s going on, but he really tries his best.” Alexis can never forget he’s there. “He’s really into it, being a fan and doing all the cheers,” Weaver said. “He leads the cheers. There’s a cheer when you get an ace, and the parents go, ‘A-C-E,’ and he’s the one starting it and yelling it loud.
“She really enjoys him being able to watch her.” He provides what only a parent can. “I just try to be the best supporter I can, the best cheerleader I can,” Patrick said. “Be there for wins and losses. Give my advice when advice is needed. Hug her when she needs to be hugged.
“I’m sitting back, being a proud parent. As she continues to get older and grow — she’s still only 16 — I can’t wait to see how far it can take her.” P
ROBABLY not as far as Azerbaijan. Volleyball’s popularity is exploding in the U.S, where it is the No. 1 team sport for high school and college girls. In August, the University of Nebraska’s football stadium hosted 92,003 fans for a volleyball match, making it the highest-attended women’s sporting event ever. In October, a game between Penn State’s Big Ten rivals Wisconsin and Minnesota attracted 1.66 million viewers, making it the most-watched volleyball match in NCAA history. Texas’ national championship victory over Nebraska on Dec. 17 eclipsed that mark (1.69 million viewers), with a 115 percent increase in viewership from last year’s title match. As recently as three years ago, American women could only pursue professional volleyball careers abroad. Roughly one year from now, the U.S. will have as many as four professional women’s volleyball leagues. Alexis will make her collegiate debut in 2025 at Penn State — which reached the Sweet 16 the past two seasons — and make frequent appearances on the Big Ten Network, where women’s volleyball viewership has trailed only football and men’s basketball. She will be spotlighted because of her athleticism, her skill, her ability to reach 11 feet in the air. They will know her name. “She’s the right kid for this to happen to,” Weaver said. “She’s very mature and very down-to-earth. It doesn’t get to her. She’s one of those kids that’s been here before. She’s been like that since she was little, just very poised and even-keeled. She’s an old soul. Sometimes when I get rattled about things, she’s like, ‘Mom, it’s gonna be OK.’ “She doesn’t think me or her dad are anything special. We are very normal to her. She understands that nothing is handed to you and you have to work for it. I think we did a great job instilling those values in her.”