In Memoriam

Legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson Jr. dies at 78

Legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson Jr., known simply as “Big John” throughout college basketball, has died at age 78.

Published

4 years ago

August 31, 2020

UVM Staff

President Reagan with Patrick Ewing and John Thompson posing for cover of Sports Illustrated in the White House map room. 11/12/84 (Photo: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum/White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ronald_Reagan_with_John_Thompson,_Patrick_Ewing_(cropped).jpg)

Legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson Jr has died.

He was 78.

Georgetown coach John Thompson Jr legacy

Johnson was simply known as “Big John” throughout college basketball.

Championships

In 1984, he led Georgetown to the 1984 national championship. He then became a force to be reckoned with.

Johnson built the Georgetown men’s basketball program into an unstoppable force, taking the Hoyas to three Final Fours in the 1980s while also winning seven Big East titles and leading the 1988 United States national team to a bronze medal in the Olympics.

Recruitment

His coaching legacy includes the recruitment and development of four players in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and Allen Iverson.

College basketball Hall of Fame

Thompson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, was a pioneer credited with opening the door for a generation of minority coaches.

His national title run in 1984 was the first by a Black head coach and altered the perception of Black coaches.

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Related Topics:celebrity deaths college basketball Georgetown

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Unheard Voices is an award-winning news magazine that started in 2004 as a newsletter in the Asbury Park, Neptune, and Long Branch, NJ areas to broadening into a recognized Black online media outlet. The company is one of the few outlets dedicated to covering social justice issues. They are the recipient of the NAACP Unsung Hero Award and CV Magazine's Innovator Award for Best Social Justice Communications Company.