At the Loudonville, New York, school, Hewitt revived a program that had been dormant since the mid-1990s and molded it into one of the best in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and among the best in the Northeast.

Hewitt was named the twelfth head coach of the Georgia Tech men's college basketball team on April 6, 2000.

He received his highest accolades for guiding the Yellow Jackets to the 2001 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in his first season.

Though Tech dealt with a number of injuries to key players the following season, Hewitt again guided the Yellow Jackets to a strong finish, tying for fourth place in the regular season and advancing to the championship game of the ACC Tournament, a first for the Jackets under Hewitt.

In 2010, despite a strong reliance on four freshmen in his eight-man rotation, Hewitt guided the Jackets to their fourth NCAA Tournament, winning 23 games overall.

On March 12, 2011, Paul Hewitt was dismissed as the head coach of the Georgia Tech after eleven seasons with a $7.2 million buyout.

Three Tech players were named ACC Rookie of the Year, including Derrick Favors in 2010, Chris Bosh in 2003 and Ed Nelson in 2002.

Will Bynum, Luke Schenscher, Anthony Morrow, as well as former walk-on Mario West, have spent time on NBA rosters.

Three of his assistant coaches became head coaches — Dean Keener at James Madison, Cliff Warren at Jacksonville and John O'Connor at Holy Family in Philadelphia — while three players became assistants (Jon Babul at James Madison; Darryl LaBarrie at Campbell, East Carolina and Georgia Tech; and Winston Neal at Jacksonville).

On April 30, 2011, Hewitt was named the ninth men's basketball head coach at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

In his first year, George Mason returned three senior starters from an NCAA tournament team that had beaten Villanova and was picked to finish second in the conference.

Senior Ryan Pearson was named the CAA Player of the Year, just the third Patriot to earn the honor.

In his second season as the head men's basketball coach Hewitt guided the Patriots to a 22–16 mark, including a 10–8 conference record.