John Thompson (1941–2020), legendary Georgetown basketball coach

John Thompson wasthelegendary former head basketball coach atGeorgetownUniversitywho was the first black head coach to win the NCAA men's basketball championship when he led Georgetown to a win in 1984.

• Died:c2Thursday,c2Augustc231, 2020c2(Who else died onc2Augustc231?)c2
• Details of Death:c2Diedc2at the age ofc278.c2c2
• c2We invite you to share condolences forc2John Thompsonc2inc2our Guest Book.c2c2

GeorgetownBasketballCoaching Legend

Thompson took over as head coach of the relatively unknown basketball program at Georgetown University in 1972.c2He built a powerhouse program there, becoming the first Black head coach to win an NCAA Championship in 1984.c2His teams made it to the final four two other seasons, losing to Villanova in the 1985 national championship game in one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history. He coached many top players including Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson and had an incredible graduation rate for his players of 97%.c2He won almost 600 games at Georgetown and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.c2Thompson played two seasons in the NBA for the Boston Celtics.

On when he was hired by Georgetown

"When I was hired,c2I had a talk with the president [then the Rev. Robert Henle, S.J.]. All that Father Henle said about basketball was that he hoped I could take a team to the NIT every now and then. I thought to myself that I'd eat my hat if I couldn't do better than that. But I didn't say anythingc2except,e280af 'Yes, sir, I'll try,' because you don't want to set yourself up." e28094Sports Illustrated 1980

What they said about him

Full Obituary: NY Daily News