John Thompson III
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- For other persons named John Thompson, see John Thompson (disambiguation).
John Thompson III (March 11, 1966 – ) is the current head coach of the men's basketball team at Georgetown University. He grew up in Washington, D.C. and was named first team All-Metro by the Washington Post while playing for Gonzaga College High School in 1984. Thompson was hired on April 20, 2004 to replace Craig Esherick. Prior to being hired at Georgetown, Thompson had been the head coach for four years at his alma mater, Princeton University.
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[edit] Coaching Career
[edit] Princeton
Thompson is the son of John Thompson (Georgetown's head coach from 1972 to 1999), and a 1988 graduate of Princeton. Thompson, whose nickname is JT3, served as an assistant coach at Princeton under head coaches Pete Carril and Bill Carmody from 1995 through 2000. After being promoted to head coach, he compiled a 68-42 record with the Tigers from 2000 to 2004 and guided the team to three Ivy League championships, two NCAA tournament appearances, and one NIT tournament appearance. Three of his players earned Ivy League Player of the Year honors.
[edit] Georgetown
In Thompson's first year at Georgetown (2004-05), the Hoyas improved from 13-15 to a record of 19-13 and the team reached the quarterfinals of the NIT. His overall record as a head coach between Georgetown and Princeton now stands at 100-59.
John Thompson III's first notable win with the team took place on January 21, 2006, when unranked Georgetown upset No. 1 Duke University. This was Georgetown's first win over a No. 1 ranked team in 21 years. Thompson also achieved his 100th win as a head coach a few nights later with an 85-82 win in double overtime at Notre Dame.
The Hoyas made the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as a #7 seed. They defeated the University of Northern Iowa in the first round and upset #2 seed Ohio State University in the second round to make the "Sweet Sixteen", where they lost to the national champions, University of Florida.
Thompson immediately introduced the Princeton offense at Georgetown, a style of play that he learned from coach Pete Carril at Princeton. The rarity of this style, and Thompson's success at adapting it to work with the brawnier Georgetown players, has been cited by the Washington Post as one of the major reasons for the team's quick turnaround.
| Preceded by: Bill Carmody |
Princeton Men's Basketball Head Coach 2000 – 2004 |
Succeeded by: Joe Scott |
| Preceded by: Craig Esherick |
Georgetown Men's Basketball Head Coach 2004 – |
Succeeded by: incumbent |
[edit] References
- Davis, Barker (2006). "Hoyas survive big scare", Washington Times, January 25.
- Powell, Camille (2006). "Hoyas KO the Big", Washington Post, January 22, p. E-1.
- Wise, Mike (2006). "Princeton Offense Keeps Hoyas on the Move", Washington Post, March 23, p. E-12.
