This post was written by contributing sports editor Sean Hurd

The men’s basketball team will have a new man on the sidelines.

In response to the departure of assistant head coach Pete Strickland last month, GW announced Friday that John Fitzpatrick will serve as a special advisor to head coach Mike Lonergan’s staff for the upcoming season.

Fitzpatrick, who has coaching experience at several Division 1 programs, will assist the GW coaching staff with practices, scouting and recruiting.

The move comes after the men’s team saw two key departures this offseason in Strickland, who left the staff to be closer to his family, and former assistant coach Kevin Sutton, who left the program for a coaching position at Georgetown.

Fitzpatrick comes to GW with nearly 25 years in NCAA Division I. Before taking the position at GW, Fitzpatrick held assistant coaching positions at Virginia, Wright State, Wichita State, Navy, Fordham, Ball State, and Houston.

Over the span of his career, Fitzpatrick helped lead those programs to 11 conference championships and eight postseason appearances (five NCAA Tournaments, three NITs).

One of those postseason appearances was during Fitzpatrick’s stint with Navy, who in 1986 made an NCAA Elite Eight appearance led by two-time NBA champion David Robinson. It was Fitzpatrick who helped recruit the NBA hall of famer to play for Navy.

Along with Robinson, Fitzpatrick has helped recruit five conference Newcomers of the Year, 14 players who ended up in the NBA and 27 thousand-point scorers.