Sports

Hewitt says ‘No’ to St. John’s

Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt has turned down an offer to become St. John’s head coach, The Post has learned.

Sources in college basketball told The Post that Hewitt contacted Red Storm athletic director Chris Monasch on Thursday to say he was remaining in Atlanta, where his wife and family are very happy.

Hewitt said the decision had nothing to do with St. John’s.

“My family and I have developed deep ties to Georgia Tech and the city of Atlanta,” Hewitt said in a statement released by Georgia Tech. “I strongly believe in what Georgia Tech can do for young people, and I am committed to returning the Tech basketball program to the level of success our fans have come to expect. We took a step in that direction this past season, and I fully intend to continue on that path.”

As reported in Thursday’s Post, Hewitt has always put his family first and the thought of uprooting his wife and three daughters was an insurmountable obstacle.

St. John’s will move to Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg and Cornell’s Steve Donahue. Two sources outside St. John’s told The Post that Monasch reached out to Virginia Tech AD Jim Weaver for permission to speak with Greenberg within minutes of receiving the call from Hewitt.

The Hokies were eliminated from the NIT on Wednesday night. Cornell remains very much alive in the NCAA tournament and faces Kentucky tonight.

Proper search protocol requires an AD to avoid contact with a candidate whose season is ongoing and Monasch last week said he would respect that procedure.

Donahue is an intriguing candidate. His stock has risen with every NCAA tournament win and he has surfaced as a possible candidate for the Seton Hall job, sources told The Post. But he will have to build a rapport with the many basketball factions in the city.

The winner in the hiring sweepstakes is Fordham, which landed Tom Pecora from Hofstra. Pecora is well respected in the city by prep, AAU and college coaches.

Greenberg has four years left on his contract at Virginia Tech but the financial terms of that deal need to be negotiated. As reported exclusively in The Post, Greenberg initially topped the Red Storm’s realistic wish list.

St. John’s, through a third party, reached out to Florida coach Billy Donovan to see if there was any interest. Donovan took the call out of respect to St. John’s but no formal offer was extended, despite published reports.

When it became clear there might be an opening to lure Hewitt, St. John’s went after the Long Island native with vigor. Sources told The Post that St. John’s made clear it was willing to put together an attractive financial package for Hewitt, who makes $1.35 million annually, and that the university would offer relief for Hewitt’s prohibitive buyout.

The Hewitt search was approaching hysteric proportions Thursday morning. One newspaper reported that St. John’s president, Father Donald J. Harrington, was to meet with Hewitt on Thursday to close the deal.

Harrington, however, was on a flight back from Europe and Hewitt was in Florida recruiting for Georgia Tech. There also was a tip that Hewitt was seen at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport en route to Chicago.

With AP