Tuesday, 03 December 2024

John Thompson

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Coaches 2024
Embed from Getty Images
Sport(s): Basketball
Statistics: 1 NCAA Division I Tournament Win (1984)
2 NCAA Division I Final Fours (1982, 1983 & 1985)
6 Big East Regular Season Championships (1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987 & 1989)
5 Big East Tournament Wins (1980, 1984, 1987, 1989 & 1992)
1 NABC Coach of the Year Award (1982)
3 Big East Coach of the Year Awards (1980, 1987 & 1992)
1 Olympic Bronze Medal (1988)
596-239 NCAA Record
Member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
Member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame
A two-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, John Thompson became a guidance counselor and basketball coach at St. Anthony High School in Washington D.C. Thompson was excellent in both roles, posting a record of 122-28, and college independent, Georgetown, hired him as their men's coach in 1972.

Before Thompson's arrival, Georgetown had only appeared in one NCAA Tournament and two NITs, and the Hoyas won only three games the year before and were an independent. Georgetown would move to the short-lived Eastern College Athletic Conference, winning it twice and making three NCAA Tournaments.

The Big East was formed in 1979, with the Hoyas joining as a charter member. Thompson's teams flourished with the increased competition level, and Georgetown won the first Big East Tournament, and they went to the Elite Eight. Georgetown would be the Tournament runner-ups in 1982 and 1985 and the NCAA Champion in 1984. The Hoyas were nationally known, and it was all because of Thompson.

This was Georgetown's apex, but they were still a very good team for the duration of Thompson's career, which went on until his abrupt resignation in 1999.

The stories of Thompson’s devotion to his players (which other coach would stand up and threaten a drug lord and demand that he stayed away from his players?) is legendary. When it was all said in done, the elevation of a program that John Thompson accomplished has few, if any, equal.

We are proud to nominate John Thompson for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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