Paul Hewitt fired by George Mason

Former Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt was fired Monday by George Mason. In Hewitt's four seasons there, the Patriots' record was 66-67.

This season George Mason was 9-22, 4-14 in the Atlantic 10. This was George Mason's second season in the league. Last season the Patriots were 11-20 overall and 4-12 in the league. Each season the team lost in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

"Mason made a significant commitment to its athletic programs, especially men's basketball, when the university moved to the Atlantic 10 Conference two years ago," Athletic Director Brad Edwards said in a statement released by the university. "The university has high expectations for the program and thus determined a change was needed.

“Paul has always been a tremendous advocate for the sport of college basketball and we are extremely appreciative for the manner in which he has represented the university and for his service to the student-athletes and to the program.”

Hewitt was fired by Tech in March 2011. The high point of Hewitt's tenure at Tech occurred when he took the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA tournament championship game in 2004. Hewitt's record at Tech was 190-162 overall, 72-104 in the ACC.

Soon after Tech dismissed Hewitt, he was hired by George Mason to replace Jim Larranaga, who left to coach Miami.