Coach John Thompson, Jr. died on August 30, 2020, at the age of 78. He redefined college basketball and challenged stereotypes of Black masculinity and mental aptitude. ESPN host Michael Wilbon called him a mentor and a master teacher.
Thompson’s journey began on September 2, 1941, in the segregated housing projects of Washington, DC’s Anacostia neighborhood. Thompson found solace and his identity on the basketball court in junior high and the local Police Boys Club. He went on to play center for Archbishop John Carroll Catholic High School, leading them to three city championships between 1958 and 1960. His athletic prowess earned him a scholarship to play for Providence College.
After graduating, Thompson was drafted into the NBA by the Boston Celtics where he served as the backup center for Bill Russell, the Celtics’ future hall-of-fame center. Russell not only pushed him to be a better ballplayer but taught him to use his platform to speak out on civil rights and social issues. After a two-year stint in the NBA, Thompson was hired to coach the boys’ basketball team at St. Anthony’s Catholic High School in Northeast Washington, DC. Thompson’s success at St. Anthony’s caught the attention of Georgetown University’s president Father Robert J. Henle, who hired him on March 13, 1972, six years after Georgetown integrated its athletic programs.
Thomas Battle, a Washingtonian and retired director of the Moorland Spingarn Research Center at Howard University, recalling the significance of Thompson’s hiring and the new Black players he brought to campus, said:
“In the 1950s-1960s, Georgetown University didn’t have any cache recruiting Black players. I say this because DC was known for major basketball rivalries between the public and Catholic high schools during those days…. Then lo and behold, Georgetown sees the opportunity to look progressive by hiring this local Black coach, who had grown up in the city and could attract local Black prep talent.”
Coach Thompson achieved early success by recruiting DC and Baltimore public school stars: John “Ba Ba” Duren, Craig “Big Sky” Shelton, Michael Graham, and Reggie Williams. Some Georgetown students and alumni questioned the academic qualifications of their new recruits. Thompson, who held a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s in guidance and counseling, four honorary degrees, and a son who graduated from Princeton University prioritized academics. He hired Mary Felon, a former nun who taught at St. Anthony’s, to be his academic coordinator. She would help the players select their courses as freshmen. She would also call them as late as midnight to quiz them on what they learned in class. Consequently, his players’ graduation rate was 97 percent throughout his tenure. Former Hoyas Mark Tillmon and Gene Smith said he held “mental practices” to test their knowledge of current events in the Wall Street Journal. Players interned on Capitol Hill. Dr. Maurice Jackson, a Black professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown, reflects:
“You could be proud of these young men because they wore shirts and ties to games and attended class. This meant everything to older Blacks seeing these boys not only dominate on the court, but also graduate.”
