He was 78. Thompson’s parents emphasized education, but he struggled in part of because of poor eyesight and labored in Catholic grammar school. “Your love is stuck in my throat without words to translate emotion and a thousand poems have not been able to encapsulate your memory for me,” said Tiffany Thompson, mourning the passing of her father. Copyright © 2020 by WTOP. “What made Coach Thompson special, what compelled us to celebrate his life today is what he did to build young men — to turn them into men of character and purpose.”. Washington, D.C. 20057 website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. The university awarded Thompson for his lasting commitment to the Hilltop community with its two highest honors – the President’s Award and the Patrick Healy Award. Well-known as a sports icon, advocate for social justice and his tireless support of players, the coach, affectionately known as “Big John,” encouraged his teams to value both the sport and academics – achieving an impressive 97% graduation rate. No details were disclosed. Though aware of his influence, Thompson did not take pride in becoming the first Black coach to take a team to the Final Four, and he let a room full of reporters know it when asked his feelings on the subject at a news conference in 1982. All rights reserved. It was a result so disappointing that Thompson put himself on a sort of self-imposed leave at Georgetown for a while, coaching practices and games but leaving many other duties to his assistants. “Our legendary Georgetown coach, John Thompson has passed away,” Mutombo wrote on Instagram that morning with a photo of himself and Thompson. 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 nearly 600 for Georgetown until he stepped down in 1999 – the same year he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Born in D.C., Thompson led his high school team — Archbishop Carroll — to championships and earned a scholarship to Providence College. (CNN)John Thompson Jr., the first Black basketball head coach to win the NCAA National Championship, died at his Arlington, Virginia, home on Sunday night, according to his family. Thompson remained a part of the university community as coach emeritus, continuing to mentor and support Hoya athletes. He was 78. I thought that was the color of his hands. I hope we all can learn from his time here and continue the path towards racial and social justice.”.

All market data delayed 20 minutes. “We are a better university because of John’s leadership – he challenged us to live up to our values and enabled all of us to see new possibilities, for ourselves, and for the impact we could have on the world,” DeGioia added. No announcement has been made yet on the cause of death. RELATED: This Day in Black History: April 2, 1984 One of the most celebrated and polarizing figures in his sport, Thompson took over a moribund Georgetown program in the 1970s and molded it in his unique style into a perennial contender, culminating with a national championship team anchored by center Patrick Ewing in 1984. No details were disclosed. Faculty and students rallied around him after a bedsheet with racist words was hung inside the school’s gym before a game during the 1974-75 season. He was a person that, when I first met him, just by the way that he carried himself as a Black man, a proud Black man, and as a young boy that I could want to emulate and try to be like,” said Ewing, a member of Georgetown’s 1984 championship team and the university’s current coach. “While he broke barriers on the court, his legacy is the mark he made on our society as he fought each and every day for the rights of all people regardless of their race or where they came from,” said Lee Reed, Georgetown director of athletics. in not signing Barrett letter. In 2003, Georgetown created the John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award to honor emerging local leaders who reinforce the university’s commitment to engagement within Washington, DC and work to solve key issues that are responsible for shaping the city and the people who live in it. “Coach John R. Thompson Jr. had a profound impact on our university,” said Georgetown President John J. DeGioia. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, “Our father was an inspiration to many and devoted his life to developing young people not simply on but, most importantly, off the basketball court. The former FLOTUS also explained to Ellen Degeneres how Barack stepped in and saved the day. Over the 28 years Thompson was coach, the Hoyas went 596-239.

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