John Thompson (basketball)

John Robert Thompson Jr. (September 2, 1941August 30, 2020) was an American college basketball coach for the Georgetown Hoyas men's team.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 and 270 lb, 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.

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.

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 (.710), 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.

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.

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, whose crew was connected to at least forty homicides.

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, specifically John Turner and Mourning, both of whom had befriended Edmond.

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.

The 1984 squad, led by 7 ft 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.

An imposing figure on the sidelines who towered over many opposing coaches and even players, Thompson was noted for a trademark white towel that he carried on his shoulder during the games, which he did as a tribute to his mother.