Thompson was about 6’ 10” tall and weighed almost 300 pounds, and he seemed even bigger as he strode onto the basketball court and dwarfed many of the “star” college players! Coach Thompson just recently passed away at the age of 78.
It was 1984, and Georgetown was set to play Houston for the NCAA Championship. Being an old Southwest Conference “die-hard,” who cheered on SMU with his Dad, I had seen Houston play and had listened to them on the radio when I could not see them, because they were “TEXAS” and were fun to watch and so much closer to home than Georgetown in Washington, D. C.; I knew about more of their players—and they represented the SWC in 1984! And, their coach, Guy Lewis, was a CHARACTER I had seen “up close!” (Yes, class, I know that one sentence would have been marked as “too verbose.”—Themer)
Well, Coach John Thompson led the Georgetown Basketball Team, headed up by Patrick Ewing (plus Williams and Wingate), to an 84—75 victory over the Houston Cougars (Olajuwon, Young, and Franklin) and became the first Black Coach to ever reach this pinnacle. (He later said that there had been many African-American coaches who could have done so earlier had they been given the same chances!)
His style was “DEFENSE,” and he loved big centers, who could intimidate opposing teams—Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, and others.
His biggest contribution to basketball and to life in general, though, was his ability to help the disadvantaged in any way to find better lives—and his stature in size and in ability and in accomplishments helped him to help youngsters, the hope of our nation!
Thompson, as a youth, had suffered from vision impairments and knew what it was like to have undiagnosed problems that made it harder to succeed! However, he did succeed and set records in high school and in college that allowed him to be drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1964.
He played for them as a “back-up” to Bill Russell, as Boston won back-to-back Championships, and then he retired rather than move to Chicago, which acquired his rights in the 1966 Expansion Draft.
He began to work his way up the ladder in St. Anthony High School as a counselor and coach—and then was chosen for the Georgetown position over several coaches with more experience. One detail of his career that to me was more important than his victories there was the fact that of the 77 players who stayed at Georgetown four years under Thompson, 75 received their DEGREES!
Thompson had more great teams, but he also fell upon times that were not so great—and he did not like having to “beg” players to come to Georgetown, when he thought they should be begging to be allowed to attend!
In early 1999, Coach Thompson resigned to never coach again at age 57. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame the same year and still remained a visible face on the Georgetown campus, especially when his oldest child took over as head coach in 2004.
I could quote some more statistics and cite some more awards, but suffice it to say that Mr. John Thompson was more than just a coach; he was a supporter of and molder of YOUTH, especially those who needed helping hands! His influence and he will be missed!
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