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OT/ RIP John Thompson

As a Hoya myself- attended Gtown 87-91 I can say that Gtown and Miami rise to prominence in the 80’s was because these two programs embraced the black communities. Southeast DC and liberty city were very similar and both programs went inside these communities where no other program cared to go. JT stood tall and was the very best advocate for BLM 30 **** years before the rest of America woke up. Those Gtown teams were feared much like our mighty canes during the 80’s. So **** lucky to have these two programs in my life. RIP JT the definition of the very best.
 
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bear said:
As a Hoya myself- attended Gtown 87-91 I can say that Gtown and Miami rise to prominence in the 80’s was because these two programs embraced the black communities. Southeast DC and liberty city were very similar and both programs went inside these communities where no other program cared to go. JT stood tall and was the very best advocate for BLM 30 **** years before the rest of America woke up. Those Gtown teams were feared much like our mighty canes during the 80’s. So **** lucky to have these two programs in my life. RIP JT the definition of the very best.
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Actually the real trailblazer—and you won’t want to hear it—was Hugh Durham’s 1971-2 FSU team which lost to UCLA in the NCAA finals. There was still a
lot of racist undercurrent that a team that started five Blacks could not be well disciplined enough to win it all.
 
TheMatador said:
Actually the real trailblazer—and you won’t want to hear it—was Hugh Durham’s 1971-2 FSU team which lost to UCLA in the NCAA finals. There was still a
lot of racist undercurrent that a team that started five Blacks could not be well disciplined enough to win it all.
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I do not doubt this and in The 70’s! Whoa... was too young for this to opine. What I do know however is that JT walked the walk and really cared for the black community not just because they balled on the court.
 
I used to go to Yates fieldhouse on some summer Saturdays to watch the Kenner summer league. Kids from Georgetown, UDC, I think Howard, and other area schools played. Maryland players did not participate. They went to a different summer league. Thompson and Driesell had a longtime dislike of one another.

Fun to see some of the Hoya talent: Reggie Williams, David Wingate, Michael Jackson, Billy Martin. A major disappointment was Anthony Jones who was a top-5 out of D.C. Dunbar ended up transferring.
 
bear said:
I do not doubt this and in The 70’s! Whoa... was too young for this to opine. What I do know however is that JT walked the walk and really cared for the black community not just because they balled on the court.
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A lot of people care for the Black community.
 
Rip
john thompson smile GIF by NCAA March Madness
 
bear said:
I do not doubt this and in The 70’s! Whoa... was too young for this to opine. What I do know however is that JT walked the walk and really cared for the black community not just because they balled on the court.
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It wasn’t just the 70’s, it was prevalent in the 80’s and … it still exists today.

There was a REASON that went beyond JJ’s perfect hair why the country hated Miami. There was a REASON that Georgetown was HATED.

In 1989, Sports Illustrated, started an article (and, I’m paraphrasing due to memory): “[…forget for a moment that Georgetown is all black and that Princeton is all white]”

Here’s how they wrote an article to commemorate the day a 16-seed almost took down a 1-seed.
www.si.com

The Game That Saved March Madness

Princeton’s near-upset of Georgetown in a 1989 first-round game made sure Cinderella would always get invited to the ball
www.si.com www.si.com
 
TheMatador said:
Actually the real trailblazer—and you won’t want to hear it—was Hugh Durham’s 1971-2 FSU team which lost to UCLA in the NCAA finals. There was still a
lot of racist undercurrent that a team that started five Blacks could not be well disciplined enough to win it all.
Click to expand...
Actually, Don Haskins was the first to win a Natty with an all black starting 5 in 1965-66.
 
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Legend. I still remember them having Mourning and Mutumbo and thinking, how in the heck are teams going to score in the paint. Also gotta shout out Mutumbo's bar entrance saying, Who Wants to **** Mutumbo.

Then when Allen Iverson came along, I wondered what planet he was from. AI is still my favorite basketball player to date.

Rip Big John.
 
Not old enough to have seen those days, but my parents taught me well.

Put together an all-time starting 5 of every college team, Georgetown’s is top 5 at worst with Michael Jackson, AI, Ewing, Alonzo, ****mbe, Hibbert, Jeff Green, Otto Porter, Greg Monroe.

Favorite college program despite not having gone there. RIP JT, prayers to JT3 and fam.
 
ThomasG954 said:
Not old enough to have seen those days, but my parents taught me well.

Put together an all-time starting 5 of every college team, Georgetown’s is top 5 at worst with Michael Jackson, AI, Ewing, Alonzo, ****mbe, Hibbert, Jeff Green, Otto Porter, Greg Monroe.

Favorite college program despite not having gone there. RIP JT, prayers to JT3 and fam.
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Reggie "Russ " Williams 84-87 would be in any Georgetown all time starting 5..
 
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I saw this last night while reading the numerous tributes to JT - it's nice to see Freddie Brown rebounded so nicely from his infamous mishap!
It's also just another example of how influential John Thompson was on his player's lives...

Thompson kept a deflated basketball in his office to help his players realize that at some point, they would need to do something else besides play ball.

“Coach Thompson taught me a great deal and broadened my horizons,” former basketball player Fred Brown (C’84) told Georgetown Magazine in 1997. “I still remember him spending whole practices just discussing things with us. It was a great classroom, and one of the most important things he taught me involved a perspective which goes beyond the immediate.”

Brown, who went on to attend Georgetown Law, is now CEO of Process H.O.P.E. (Help Overcome Poverty through Education) Inc., a nonprofit community-based organization that helps children in the Washington, DC metro region.

So many of his players have established foundations which seek to provide funds for education and other needs in underserved communities.
 
Hoyacane1620 said:
I know there are many on this board who were barely born when John Thompson and the Hoyas were in their prime. Let me tell you that not only did Thompson have to manage his guys as a basketball team and get them through the academics at Gtown, but he had to guide them through some blatant and very public racism. Particularly Patrick Ewing.

Ewing emigrated to Boston from Jamaica during his high school years. He was a shy, introverted kid who was bigger than everyone else. He faced some language and some academic hurdles from the beginning. When he came to Gtown, he was assigned a "handler" - a good friend of mine who was a student manager on the team and who essentially accompanied him everywhere. Ewing lived in an apartment on campus with this "handler" and some upperclassmen during his freshmen year. He stood out everywhere he went.

Opposing fans would shout horrible racist epithets at Ewing at every game. They would mock him with signs claiming he couldn't read or that he "ate bananas". He was called "Ape" all the time. Those were some of the more mild ones.. This happened at schools like Villanova, Providence College, etc. Good catholic schools.. Imagine that happening now????????

Thompson taught his guys how to handle this kind of stuff and channel their energies to the court. He taught them how to handle life.


And because I'm feeling nostalgic today, my wife and I met at Gtown. She, too, is a sports nut and made many of the same road-trips I did for Gtown basketball. She personally knew a bunch of the players, including Patrick Ewing. Ewing lived next door to her our senior year. Most people don't know that he was more of a 'gentle giant' than he looked on the court. He spent many of his off hours sitting outside in the courtyard near their apartments, headphones on, drawing or sketching. For the most part, students left him alone but when he was approached, he was very friendly.
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Super dope. Thanks for posting. 👍🏾
 
sports.yahoo.com

The legend of Georgetown’s John Thompson begins with unflinching toughness

Rayful Edmond answered to no one in the 1980s. No one, that is, except John Thompson, when Thompson got wind Alonzo Mourning and other players were fraternizing with the drug lord.
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com

This is a very accurate account of what went on at Gtown when I was there. Not to dissimilar with out homies at Mia... which brings to Manny. He can connect with the boys... no he is not JT but he is real and that is what the boys need
 
Mid 80s Big East basketball was amazing. Some of the most entertaining basketball ever played, in my opinion. John Thompson was a big reason for it. RIP, coach. You brought a lot of joy to this man when he was a kid.
 
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