John Thompson (basketball) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
John Thompson

Thompson in 1984
Personal information
Born	(1941-09-02)September 2, 1941 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Nationality	American
Died	August 30, 2020(2020-08-30) (aged 78) Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
High school	Archbishop Carroll (Washington, D.C.)
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	269 lb (122 kg)
Career information
College	Providence (1961–1964)
NBA Draft	1964 / Round: 3 / Pick: 25th overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Pro career	1964–1966
Coaching career	1966–1999
Career history
As player:
1964–1966	Boston Celtics
As coach:
1966–1972	St. Anthony HS
1972–1999	Georgetown
Career highlights and awards
As player: 2× NBA champion (1965, 1966) Honorable mention All-American - AP (1964) Second-team Parade All-American (1960) As coach: NCAA champion (1984) 3x NCAA Regional—Final Four (1982, 1984, 1985) 6× Big East Conference tournament champion (1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989) 5× Big East Conference regular season champion (1980, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1992) 2× Big East 7 division champion (1996–1997) 2× ECAC tournament Southern Region champion (1975, 1976) ECAC Tournament South-Upstate Region champion (1979) Henry Iba Award (1982) NABC Coach of the Year (1985) UPI Coach of the Year (1987) 3× Big East Coach of the Year (1980, 1987, 1992)
Medals Head Coach for  United States Men's basketball Olympic Games Bronze 1988 Seoul Team competition

John Robert Thompson Jr. (September 2, 1941 – August 30, 2020) was an American college basketball coach for the Georgetown Hoyas men's team. He became the first African-American head coach to win a major collegiate championship in basketball when he led the Hoyas to the NCAA Division I national championship in 1984. Thompson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Thompson played college basketball for the Providence Friars and earned honorable mention All-American honors in 1964. He played for two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Boston Celtics, who won an NBA championship in both seasons. Thompson became a high school coach in Washington, D.C., before coaching Georgetown for 27 seasons. He worked as a radio and television sports commentator after his retirement from coaching. Thompson earned his Master’s Degree in Counseling and Guidance at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). He also served as an employee at the Center for 4-H and Youth Development at UDC.

Early life

Thompson was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and was a practicing Roman Catholic. As a child, his mother insisted on sending him to Catholic schools for the educational opportunities and academic challenges. At Archbishop Carroll High School, Thompson emerged as a standout center, playing in three consecutive City Championship games (1958–60). In 1959, Carroll All-Mets Thompson, Monk Malloy, George Leftwich and Tom Hoover won over Cardozo 79–52. The next year, Thompson and Leftwich led the Lions over the Ollie Johnson/Dave Bing led Spingarn, 69–54. During his senior year, Thompson led Carroll to a 24–0 record, preserving their 48-game winning streak along the way. Carroll capped off the undefeated 1960 season with a 57–55 win over St Catherine's Angels of Racine, Wisconsin in the Knights of Columbus National Championship Tournament with Thompson scoring a team-high 15 points and adding 12 rebounds. He was voted to the all-tournament team and was later named a second-team Parade All-American.

Playing career

After graduating from Archbishop Carroll, Thompson went to Providence College, where he played on the 1963 NIT Championship team with Ray Flynn, and was part of the first Providence NCAA tournament team in his senior year in 1964, when he received honorable mention from the Associated Press for its All-American team. Upon graduation, Thompson was the Friars' all-time leader in points, scoring average, and field goal percentage, and second in rebounds to former teammate Jim Hadnot.

He was selected in the third round of the 1964 NBA draft and played two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Boston Celtics from 1964 to 1966. At 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) and 270 lb (120 kg), he backed up Bill Russell, the Celtics star center, en route to consecutive NBA championships. Nicknamed "The Caddy" for his secondary role to Russell, he averaged 3.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 74 games played. Thompson was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1966 NBA expansion draft, but he decided to retire from playing instead of relocating to Chicago.

Coaching career

Georgetown

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. He left St. Anthony for Georgetown University, who chose him over more experienced candidates Morgan Wootten and George Raveling.

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. Over 27 years, Thompson's Hoyas went 596–239 (.714), 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. 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. Two years earlier, Thompson had become the first Black coach to advance their team to the Final Four. Georgetown missed repeating as champs in 1985, losing in the finals to underdog Villanova.

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, which he did as a tribute to his mother. 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). 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; eight were drafted in the first round, including two players selected first overall: Ewing and Iverson. Thompson also insisted on top academic performance from his players and maintained a 97% graduation rate among the team.

US national team

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.

Protest against Proposition 42

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 42, which would have denied athletic scholarships to student athletes who failed to qualify academically under standards of the already in effect Proposition 48. Thompson expressed concerns that the proposal would leave many student athletes without a means of paying for their education, as well as what he felt would be the proposal's disproportionate impact on Black athletes.

Resignation

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

Esherick was fired in 2004 and replaced by John Thompson III, Thompson'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. John Thompson III coached Georgetown until 2017.

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

Life after coaching

After retiring from coaching, Thompson became the presidential consultant for urban affairs at Georgetown University, a basketball commentator for TNT and host of a sports talk show, The John Thompson Show, on WTEM in Washington, D.C. He signed a lifetime contract with Clear Channel Radio and WTEM in 2006. Working with Rick Walker, Thompson remained on the show until 2012.

Thompson was scheduled to be on American Airlines Flight 77 on September 11, 2001, but his seat was cancelled. Ten years later, on The Jim Rome Show, Thompson would reunite with the ticket agent who removed him from Flight 77.

Georgetown University's John R. Thompson Intercollegiate Athletic Center was completed in 2016. The lobby includes a statue of Thompson.

Thompson's autobiography, I Came as a Shadow, was published posthumously in December 2020.

Death

Thompson died at his home in Arlington, Virginia on August 30, 2020, three days before his 79th birthday.

Head coaching record

Source:

See also

In Spanish: John Thompson (baloncestista) para niños

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four appearances by coach