76ers’ Young in crowd for Patriots new coach
While he talked about changing as little as possible in the present, Paul Hewitt brought along an unmistakable symbol of his past success for his first appearance as George Mason coach.
With proof of his ability to recruit NBA talent in the audience at the Mason Inn on the university’s Fairfax campus — Philadelphia 76ers forward Thaddeus Young and Louise Jack, the mother of New Orleans Hornets guard Jarrett Jack — Hewitt said the pressure of taking over a veteran Patriots team expected to be a favorite in the CAA was part of what enticed him to return to coaching so quickly. He originially planned to take a year off following his dismissal by Georgia Tech in March.
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“You won 27 games,” Hewitt said. “You don’t want to come in and change too much because I think the kids are comfortable. Now, are we going to put some wrinkles in? Absolutely. But I don’t think this is a situation where you come in and say we’re going to throw everything out.”
It took as little time to get Young to travel down from Philadelphia in support of his former coach as it did for George Mason to lure Hewitt — he got his first call last Tuesday.
“It definitely says that he’s built a family and he’s built a brotherhood,” Young said.
Jack would’ve been in attendance, but he was in Miami to support another former Hewitt recruit, Heat forward Chris Bosh.
“We had about six people that we considered automatic qualifiers,” said Patriots athletic director Tom O’Connor, using NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection committee parlance.
He also said market value was the only thing discussed when it came to Hewitt’s contract, not the reported $7.2 million buyout he received from Georgia Tech.
Hewitt, who was 189-160 overall and 72-104 in the ACC with the Yellow Jackets, drew on his experience with Jack, who helped him get to the Final Four in 2004.
“Because you’ve had past success, that doesn’t mean you end up getting any further,” he said.
But he was also was well aware of the legacy of his predecessor.
“We’re going to try to recruit the best players in the country, and we’re going to try to duplicate or maybe even go further than what Coach [Jim] Larranaga has done,” Hewitt said. “I know it’s not an easy task, but that’s our goal. That’s our objective.”
