John Thompson

John Thompson (1941-2020)

Teams coached: Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown record: 596-239 (.714)
Overall record^: 596-239 (.714)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  1  (1984)
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  20  (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  8  (1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1996)
• NCAA Tournament Final Four:  3  (1982, 1984, 1985)
• NIT Championships:  0  (Runner-up in 1993)
• NIT Appearances:  4  (1977, 1978, 1993, 1998)
• Big East Regular Season Champion:  7  (1980, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1996, 1997)
• ECAC Tournament Champion:  3  (1975, 1976, 1979)
• Big East Tournament Champion:  6  (1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989)

Awards:

• NABC Coach of the Year:  1  (1985)
• Sporting News Coach of the Year:  1  (1984)
• Henry Iba Award:  1  (1982)
• UPI Coach of the Year:  1  (1987)
• Big East Coach of the Year:  3  (1980, 1987, 1992)
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1999)
• National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2006)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1972-1999

Georgetown

John Thompson Facts

• John Robert Thompson Jr.
• Born September 2, 1941
• Died August 31, 2020
• Hometown: Washington, DC
• Alma Mater: Providence College (BA, 1964) / University of the District of Columbia (MA)
• Born and raised in Washington DC, eventually starring at center for Archbishop Carroll HS where he lead his team to three straight City Championship games
• Played his college ball for head coach Joe Mullaney at Providence, where he won the NIT Championship in 1963 and was part of the 1964 team that earned the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament bid
  • Drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 3rd round of the 1964 NBA Draft, playing two seasons with the team and winning an NBA Title each season (part of a stretch of six straight for the Celtics)
• Retired in 1966 and immediately became the head coach at St. Anthony High School in Washington DC
  • Led the team to a 122-28 overall record in six seasons as head coach
• Became the head coach at Georgetown in 1972, where we would stay for the next 27 years
• Won 596 games at Georgetown, lead the Hoyas to 19 NCAA Tournaments, 3 Final Fours and a victory in the 1984 NCAA National Championship
  • The 6’10” coach was one of college basketball’s great characters; Thompson was usually seen in a suite with a white towel over his shoulder with which he would wipe sweat from his brow throughout the game
  • Thompson’s Georgetown teams were a force in the early years of the Big East Conference, winning the league’s first national title in 1984 behind star center Patrick Ewing
  • Was an assistant coach for gold medal winning Team USA during the 1976 Summer Olympics and then served as head coach in 1988 when Team USA suffered a controversial loss to the USSR and finished with the bronze medal
  • Resigned from his position mid-season in January 1999 and was replaced by his longtime assistant Craig Esherick, who held the position until 2004 when he was replaced by Thompson’s son, John Thompson III
• Remained very connected with the Georgetown program and worked as a radio and television commentator for professional and college basketball
• Passed away on August 31, 2020, just a few days shy of his 79th birthday
• Had one daughter and two sons, John III (former Georgetown and Princeton HC) and Ronny (former Ball State HC)

John Thompson Coaching Tree

• Horace Broadnax (Savannah State, Bethune-Cookman)
• Craig Esherick (Georgetown)
• Patrick Ewing (Georgetown)
• Ronny Thompson (Ball State)