Georgetown Pays Tribute To The Late, Great Head Basketball Coach John Thompson Jr.

Press release from Georgetown University:

August 31, 2020

The legendary John Thompson, Jr., who changed Georgetown basketball forever when as head coach he led the Hoyas to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in 1984, died at the age of 78.

Well known for his civil rights activism and his never-flagging support of players, the coach known as “Big John” coached his team members to value both the sport and academics, achieving an impressive 97% graduation rate.

Hired in 1972 as the university’s first Black head basketball coach, he began with a team that had won only a handful of games the year before and went on to win hundreds of games for Georgetown.

This press release was produced by Georgetown University.The views expressed here are the author’s own.