Legendary Iconic John Thompson

Life and Times of a Hall of Fame Coach at Georgetown

Iconic John Thompson was a Hall of Fame coach who led Georgetown too an NCAA title and has inspired many athletes, players,coaches and counterparts from all races and cultures while making Georgetown an iconic brand as he built his team into a national power. The Hoyas win made Thompson the first Black coach to win a major NCAA Division as they won three Final Fours and the 1984 national title.

Other wins included seven Big East Conference regular-season titles, and he directed the 1968 Olympic team to a bronze medial in the final Olympics before the United States began using NBA players and dominated the competition.

His 27 college seasons culminated with 596–239 record before being inducted into the Naismith Memorial and National College Basketball halls of fame. He was a champion to lots of young boys into becoming men as he set the tone for all to follow, aka a mountain of a man and was a towering figure who possessed a baritone voice. Also, he was a relentless advocate for disadvantaged players, mostly from minority backgrounds. Noteworthy was the stand he took when he walked off the court in protest of Proposition 48, an NCAA regulation that denied scholarship to players whose grades did not meet the minimum standards and standard text scores. In protest, he stated, “ I’ve done this because, out of frustration, you’re limited in your options of what you can do in response to something I felt was very wrong,” “This is my way of bringing attention to a rule a lot of people were not aware of-one which will affect a great many individuals. I did it to bring attention to the issue in hopes of getting to take another look at what they’ve done.”

His loyalty was easily noted to his roosters of players that included NBA stars like Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo, and Alonzo Mourning. This was evident as he crusaded for Iverson during this brief stint with the law and afterwards went on to become the Big East rookie of the year, leading the Hoyas to an NCAA tournament regional final as a sophomore.

Mr. Thompson was born September 2, 1941 in southeast Washington, D.C where he developed an early aptitude for basketball that led to an All- American career as a center at Archbishop Carroll High. While attending Providence College, he became the captain of the first team in school history to reach the NCAA tournament in 1964.

Later, the Boston Celtics chose Thompson to be the backup to Bill Russel in the third round of that year’s NBA draft. Other credits included, teaching kids the game, coached at St. Anthony Catholic School in Washington where his 122–28 record over six seasons led him to apply for a vacancy at Georgetown and after being told of their expectations for the team that he maintained was an easy task. He later went on assisting the Hoyas in reaching the NCAA tournament in 1975. His team won at least 20 games in 18 of his final 21 seasons before resigning due to marital problems.

Adding to his noteworthy legacy, after his coaching days was the John Thompson Charitable Foundation where he continued his advocacy work to help improve the lives of under-served children.

In conclusion, his legacy will forever live on in the hearts and minds of the many he touched near and far on and off the basketball court. In the words of this iconic towering figure, “Big Ace is cool!” RIP.

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