RIP Coach John Thompson
An historic figure as symbol, coach and leader at Georgetown in the '80s
I am in a bar on Columbus Avenue in the early ‘80s. My girlfriend is on line at the theater around the corner, but I am watching the Georgetown vs Kentucky NCAA tournament game. The bar is mostly white and very lubricated. The patrons are overwhelming rooting for Kentucky or, more precisely, rooting against the Hoyas. Coached by John Thompson, led by center Patrick Ewing and inspired by power forward (and designated enforcer) Michael Graham, Georgetown’s team is a flash point for media and rivals to talk about “thuggish” basketball. Before Michigan’s Fab Five, Miami’s the U or even Jordan’s sneakers colonized the streets, Georgetown’s pit bull looking logo and fly Nike sponsored gear were official urban street wear and the squad was black America’s de facto team. In the first half of the game the Hoyas stifled Sam Bowie, Kenny Walker and the rest of Kentucky like they were rhyming Public Enemy’s “Shut ‘Em Down” as they played. I walked out of that bar with his chest pushed out and as proud as I’ve ever been of a team and coach.
When I was a college intern at the Amsterdam News in the late '70s I was allowed to cover sports. At one game I sat courtside with sports reporters at Madison Square Garden. I was there to see Sleepy Floyd, a highly touted guard at a school named Georgetown. But I left the building impressed by the huge man with a towel on his shoulder who coached the team. John Thompson was a force, a black coach who built the most tough minded, relentless, unmistakably black program ever at a major school American university. Though I attended rival St. Johns, it was always hard to root against the Georgetown Hoyas because of their brand of ball and because of Thompson. He developed and mentored Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, Dikimbe Mutombu. Alonzo Mourning and so many others. His teams played hard as hell. He shielded his players from the media, much to the media's displeasure. He battled the NCAA on its eligibility rules, even once walking off court before a game in one man a one man boycott. He got one of DC's biggest crack dealers to back off hanging with his players when that was a delicate diplomatic mission. And, in 1984, Thompson was the first black coach to win the NCAA men's basketball championship. I met with him about five years ago to direct a documentary on his life. It was an honor to sit with him for several hours talking about his philosophy of life. Then the money got funny, the rights got pulled and I never got to shoot that project in one of the biggest regrets of my professional life. Coach Thompson was a dynamic symbol, inspiring coach and righteous man. #ripjohnthompson
As a Syracuse grad, no team and no coach ever gave me more heartburn than John Thompson and the Georgetown Hoyas. Perhaps because the rivalry was so strong in 70's, 80's and 90's I loved following the graduating Hoyas in the NBA but I always kept an eye on coach Thompson and his teams in the Big East.