The George Mason Patriots have made a very surprising hire in the wake of losing longtime coach Jim Larranaga to the University of Miami. Paul Hewitt, the former Georgia Tech head coach that was fired earlier this winter, has verbally accepted the job, according to FOX Sports' Jeff Goodman.
Paul Hewitt will replace Jim Larranaga at George Mason.
Hewitt, who was let go at Georgia Tech in March, interviewed for the job earlier in the week and verbally accepted the offer on Saturday, multiple industry sources told FOXSports.com.
It's a very surprising hire because Hewitt has been labeled an underachieving coach for not having a lot of success at Georgia Tech since reaching the Final Four in 2004. He is certainly an outstanding recruiter, but has had trouble translating that to results on the court. Georgia Tech also elected to fire him despite owing him a significant amount of money if they did so. Nevertheless, he did have a 190-162 record in 11 seasons at Georgia Tech, and he certainly brings a big-conference reputation to the school.
George Mason is expected to be a very good team next year, losing only Cam Long from their main rotation.