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File Photo: Tim Kehrer/The Hoya

Patrick Ewing Jr. (COL '08) was taded to the New York Knicks.

Like father like son.

If Patrick Ewing Jr. did not hear enough about his famous father while playing for his alma mater, he will in the NBA.

Ewing Jr. (COL ’08) was traded last week to the New York Knicks, the same team that drafted his father with the first pick in the 1985 draft. Patrick Ewing Sr. (CAS ’85) was an 11-time all-star and had his jersey retired by the Knicks.

Ewing Jr. will now have a chance to play professionally in Madison Square Garden, where he was often a ball boy during his father’s career.

“Coming to the Knicks, and hopefully being able to contribute, means a lot to me,” Ewing Jr. said in a press release. “It has always been my dream to play for this team. My goal is to show the coaches that I can play and do all that I can to help the team win some games.”

Ewing Jr. was drafted 43rd overall in the 2008 draft by the Sacramento Kings and then traded to the Houston Rockets earlier in August. The Knicks sent the draft rights to center Frederic Weis to the Rockets in exchange for Ewing Jr.

“Patrick Ewing [Jr.] will have an opportunity here to compete for a spot on our roster,” Knicks President Donnie Walsh said in a press release. “He is a solid defensive player and a very good athlete.”

Ewing Jr. scored 6.1 points per game and grabbed 4.2 rebounds per contest, and earned a reputation as one of the top defensive players on the team as a senior last year. He earned the first Big East Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year award for providing a spark off of the league-champion Hoyas’ bench.

Though both players are big men, Ewing Jr.’s game is that of an athletic role-player, while his father was a dominant center both offensively and defensively.

After playing two years at Indiana, Ewing Jr. transferred to Georgetown. His father led the Hoyas to a national championship and three Final Fours in the early 1980s.

Now an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic, Ewing Sr. said he is happy that his son has the opportunity to again play for one of his former teams.

“Hopefully he will have a long and productive career in New York,” Ewing Sr. said. “I am proud of him and wish him nothing but success.”