Hoyas fire Thompson
WASHINGTON — Georgetown fired men’s basketball coach John Thompson III on Thursday after two consecutive losing seasons at the school his father led to a national championship.
Thompson said in a statement released by agent David Falk that he was “honored” to have been the Hoyas’ coach and proud of what his players have “accomplished on the court and how they are thriving since leaving Georgetown.”
“Georgetown basketball has been a part of my life since 1972,” Thompson’s statement said, referring to the year his father took over as coach, “which makes this moment even more impactful, but I look forward to my next chapter.”
School president John DeGioia told Thompson on Thursday he would not be brought back next year by the basketball program strongly associated with his last name.
“Our tradition of excellence as a university will forever be inextricably linked with John and his family,” DeGioia said in a release. “We are committed to taking the necessary steps to strengthen our program and maintaining the highest levels of academic integrity and national competitiveness.”
Thompson, known as “JT3,” was Georgetown’s coach for 13 seasons, and he finished with a 278-151 record and eight trips to the NCAA tournament, including a run to the Final Four in 2007 with future NBA players Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert on the roster. But he went a combined 29-36 the past two seasons, with some of those defeats punctuated by crowd chants of “Fire Thompson!”
What had once been unimaginable — a Thompson being sent away from Georgetown — became a topic of conversation among the team’s fans as the losses mounted. When the subject was broached with Thompson this season after a loss to 2016 national champion Villanova, a team spokesman jumped in to say, “Leave it to game-related questions, please.”
The Hoyas’ 14-18 record this season included six losses in a row to finish and marked their worst winning percentage since the 1950s. They went 15-18 a year ago, losing seven of their final eight games.
John Thompson Jr. coached the team from 1972 to ’99, leading the Hoyas to 20 trips to the NCAA tourney, three Final Fours and a national title in 1984 with Patrick Ewing at center. “Big John,” as many call him, was a visible and vocal presence at Georgetown’s games during his son’s tenure, often sitting in on news conferences and interjecting his thoughts from the back of the room.