John Thompson’s teams mirrored their coach’s own fearlessness, and his impact on college basketball endures 20+ years after he hung up the whistle.
John Thompson’s accomplishments are too numerous to chronicle in any tribute. To name but a few, the Hall of Famer won almost 600 games, took Georgetown to 24 straight postseason appearances including three NCAA Final Fours and the 1984 national championship. He coached the 1988 United States Olympic basketball team, won two NBA championships as a player for the Boston Celtics, and was an All-American player at Providence College in the 1960s. John Thompson also knew what right looked like, and he pursued it for his team, his players and his community. The late coach was unforgettable. Thompson did not have an easy road to legendary coaching status — he started out as a high school coach and took the Georgetown job when the Hoyas program was irrelevant nationally. Yet, within a decade, Thompson built the Georgetown program into the nation’s best. It is impossible to fairly discuss the Big East and college basketball in the 1980s without John Thompson being mentioned first. And, damn, could his teams play. His teams were feared because they were disciplined, smart and ferocious on the defensive end. The Hoyas inspired fear not because of any physical reason (although the Hoyas were just as gifted athletically as any other top team) but because they were so well-coached defensively.
