Athletes - Craig Esherick

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	Athletes - Craig Esherick

Craig Esherick was the head coach of the Georgetown University men's basketball team from 1999-2004. He was a four year basketball letterman at Georgetown from 1974-1978. During his final two years of law school at Georgetown, he served as a graduate assistant to John Thompson Jr. In 1982, Thompson offered Esherick the position of assistant coach, and along with Mike Riley, he stayed in the position for the next 17 years. Following Thompson's resignation in 1999, Esherick was named head coach.

Although an able assistant for close to twenty years, Esherick was not a stellar head coach, and over the course of his tenure, the Hoyas fell on hard times. Esherick finished his inaugural season with a record of 8-10, missing the NCAA tournament. He would once again miss the tournament the following year, amassing a record of 19-15, playing predominantly cupcake teams outside the Big East conference. In 2001, the team made the NCAA Tournament under the stardom of future top-10 draft pick Mike Sweetney. The Hoyas made it to the Sweet 16, losing to the Maryland Terps. Esherick's final seasons were extremely disappointing, missing the NCAA Tournament all three years. He was criticized in 2002 for rejecting a bid to the NIT Tournament, a year in which he felt his 19-11, 9-7 in Big East play Hoyas should have gotten a NCAA Tourney bid. Esherick came under strong criticism for his lack of diversity in play calling, the largely cupcake non-conference teams he scheduled, and his inability to close out tight games.

In 2004, a year in which the Hoyas suffered their worst season in two decades with a record of 13-15, Georgetown students started a petition that was signed by several thousand past and present students calling for President Jack DeGioia to fire Esherick. Initially unwilling to make the move, Degioia announced the firing of Craig Esherick on the eve of a planned protest in Healy Circle by nearly 3000 Georgetown students. He was replaced by John Thompson Jr.'s son, Princeton University Head Coach John Thompson III.

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