The world is taking lots of losses lately. The latest is that legendary former Georgetown college basketball coach John Thompson has died. Here’s the Washington Post reporting:
John Thompson, the Washington native who elevated Georgetown University basketball to national prominence, earned Hall of Fame honors and carved a place in history as the first African American coach to lead his team to the NCAA championship, has died at 78.
His family announced the death in a statement but did not provide additional details.
Physically imposing at 6-foot-10 and nearly 300 pounds and possessed of a booming bass voice that commanded authority better than a shrill whistle could, Mr. Thompson built his teams around similarly intimidating centers such as Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning and a physical, unrelenting approach to defense.
His most profound contribution to the game was his grasp of its power to lift disadvantaged youngsters to a better life. He used college basketball — and his stature in the sport — as a platform from which to demand greater opportunities for Black athletes to gain the college education they might otherwise have been denied.
And here’s the Washington Times:
All his life, Thompson grappled with the topic of race. Before winning the 1984 title, Thompson became the first black coach to lead a team to the Final Four in 1982. But when a reporter asked him about that achievement, he said he “resented the hell out of” the question.
“It implies that I am the first black man to be accomplished enough and intelligent enough to do this. It is an insult to my race,” Thompson said. “There have been plenty of others who could have gotten here if they had been given the opportunity they deserved.”
In perhaps the most famous story about Thompson, he scared off Rayful Edmond, a Washington drug lord in the 1980s, from fraternizing with some of his players at the time, including future NBA star Alonzo Mourning.
Thompson was one of the most beloved college basketball coaches of all time. He’ll be greatly missed.
