The Newfoundland Growlers basketball team added a few hoops before its inaugural season, naming Patrick Ewing Jr., son of New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing, as the club’s head coach and general manager.
Ewing Jr. had an eight-year professional career, playing for the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets and various minor league teams, where he was named an All-League and All-Star. He has also traveled to Germany, Spain, Greece and Qatar.
“I’m super excited. I have fun gathering my staff and looking for players. I can’t wait to get out there and start training and playing,” Ewing Jr. told CBC News on Friday.
“I have only heard good things about St. John’s. The people I have met who are from there and who have contacted me through social media or any other means have been nothing but respectful and courteous.”
But taking the helm as head coach of a professional team is as new to Ewing Jr. as the Canadian Basketball Elite League is to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Ewing Jr. began his coaching career last year at CEBL as an assistant coach for the Ottawa BlackJacks. He said he received a call from the Growlers organization in early January expressing interest in bringing him back for his first season.
“I’m excited to get there and be in the middle of it,” he said.
“It’s a lot of work… You try to convince guys to come and play for a new coach, to play in a new system, to be in a new city, which in itself is not a difficult thing to do, but it’s tedious and you want to make sure you have the right guys.”
CEBL talent is legit, says coach
While CEBL may be new to Newfoundland and Labrador, Ewing Jr. denies that he is top-level professional basketball.
It is a summer league that starts in June and ends in August with 10 teams spread across Canada.
Ewing Jr. said that five players last season signed two-way NBA contracts, and it wouldn’t be surprising to find current or former NBA stars in the ranks.
“CEBL is nice because it’s a time when most players who play professionally aren’t really doing anything. They’re just training, getting ready for next year,” he said.
“It allows you to play at a high level of basketball, stay fit and prepare for the upcoming season. It’s as professional a league as any other league in Europe or America.”
This summer, Ewing Jr. will visit Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time and said his wife has already done the research. Whale watching, puffins and George Street were among early successes, he said.
He said he plans to bring his wife and four children to the province once he finishes school in his current home outside Washington, DC.
Training camp for the Growlers begins in May. Ewing Jr. said that he planned to arrive two weeks before camp.
The Growlers’ season kicks off with a pair of weekend home games on June 3 against the defending champion Edmonton Stingers and the Ottawa BlackJacks on June 5.
Read more articles from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
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