John Thompson (basketball)

Thompson was a guidance counselor and head coach at St. Anthony High School in Washington, D.C. from 1966 to 1972, compiling a 122–28 record.[5] He left St. Anthony for Georgetown University, who chose him over more experienced candidates Morgan Wootten and George Raveling.[2]

Thompson with President Ronald Reagan and Patrick Ewing after Georgetown won the 1984 national title

Inheriting a Hoyas team which had been 3–23 the year before, Thompson led the Hoyas to a .500 record by his second season. By his third season in 1974–75, Georgetown qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1943.[10] Over 27 years, Thompson's Hoyas went 596–239 (.714),[5] running off a streak of 24 postseason appearances – 20 in the NCAA tournament and 4 in the NIT – including a 14-year streak of NCAA appearances from 1979 to 1992 that saw three Final Four appearances in 1982, 1984 and 1985.[11] The 1984 squad, led by 7-foot (2.1 m) center Patrick Ewing, won the Division I national championship over Houston, and Thompson became the first African-American coach to lead his team to the title.[2] Two years earlier, Thompson had become the first black to advance their team to the Final Four.[5][12] Georgetown missed repeating as champs in 1985, losing in the finals to underdog Villanova.[5]

Thompson, an imposing figure on the sidelines who towered over many opposing coaches (and players, for that matter), was often noted for the trademark white towel that he carried on his shoulder during the games.[2][5] He won seven Coach of the Year awards: Big East (1980, 1987, 1992), United States Basketball Writers Association (1982), The Sporting News (1984), National Association of Basketball Coaches (1985), and United Press International (1987).[11] Thompson coached many notable players, including Ewing, Sleepy Floyd, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, and Allen Iverson. Under Thompson, 26 players were chosen in the NBA draft;[13] eight were drafted in the first round,[14] including two players selected first overall: Ewing and Iverson.[15] Thompson also insisted on top academic performance from his players and maintained a 97% graduation rate among the team.[16]

In the late 1980s, Thompson got word that several of his players, including Alonzo Mourning, were associating with noted Washington, D.C. drug lord (and avid Hoya fan) Rayful Edmond III,[17] whose crew was connected to at least forty homicides.[18] At the height of his empire, Edmond became very friendly with several Hoyas players. When Thompson confirmed what was happening, he sent word through his sources to have Edmond meet him at his office at McDonough Gymnasium.

When Edmond arrived, Thompson was initially cordial, and informed Edmond that he needed to cease all contacts with his players post haste,[19] specifically John Turner and Mourning, both of whom had befriended Edmond.[20] When Edmond tried to assure him that his players were not involved in anything illegal, the 6'10" Thompson stood up and pointed his index finger between Edmond's eyes. Thompson, known for his volatility, quickly boiled over, and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade in which he told Edmond that he did not care about his crew's violent reputation or propensity to commit murder. Edmond had crossed a line with Thompson's players, and Thompson was not going to allow Edmond to destroy the players' lives.[21]

At the publishing of his autobiography however, it was revealed that the conversation between Edmond and Thompson was not as confrontational as once believed.

"A myth has grown about me threatening Rayful and ordering him to stay away from my players. Some people like to say I stood over him and pointed my finger in his face. That's nonsense. That myth is based on the perception of me as intimidating and a bully. Like when I argued with refs, I supposedly scared them.

[22]

By all accounts, Edmond never associated with another Hoyas player on a personal level. It was believed that Thompson was the only person to stand up to Edmond without consequence,[23] initially causing some shock and surprise that there was no reprisal.[24]

Thompson was an assistant coach for the US national team on its gold medal-winning 1976 Olympic team. He was later the head coach of the 1988 Olympic team, the Americans' last fully collegiate squad. Although favored to win the international tournament, the United States was narrowly defeated by the all-professional and experienced Soviet Union in the semifinals 82–76, marking the first time the Americans did not reach the gold medal game. The United States won its final game against Australia to capture the bronze medal.[5]

On January 14, 1989, before the start of Georgetown's home game against Boston College, Thompson walked off the Capital Centre floor and turned coaching duties over to assistant Mike Riley. Thompson was protesting the NCAA's Proposition 48, which would prohibit scholarship athletes from playing their freshman years if they failed to qualify academically.[25] He disagreed with minimum score requirement on entrance exams, which Thompson said were biased against disadvantage students, both black and white.[12]

On January 8, 1999, Thompson announced his resignation as Georgetown's head coach, citing marriage problems. He was replaced by longtime assistant Craig Esherick.[26] Thompson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on October 1, 1999.[27]

Esherick was fired in 2004 and replaced by John Thompson III, the old coach's eldest son. At the time the elder Thompson was serving Georgetown in what Rev. Leo J. O'Donovan, university president, referred to as a "coach emeritus" position, assisting on academic, athletic, and community projects.[26][28][29] John Thompson III coached Georgetown until 2017.[2]

John Thompson Jr.'s younger son, Ronny Thompson, formerly an assistant coach at Georgetown, was the head coach at Ball State.[5]