All Things Basketball with GD - 2022-23 Season, Player Spotlight on John Thompson (Georgetown, Post Basketball Career and Legacy, Accolades, In His Own Words, What Others Say About Him)

Show notes:

Intro (00:00 - 00:47)

Preview of the continuation of our player spotlight on the great John Thompson (00:48 -01:40)

Two seasons of the Reggie Williams era in which they made two more NCAA tournament appearances (01:41 - 03:08)

1987-88 season with another NCAA tournament bid; John coaching the 1988 Summer Olympic basketball team that earned a bronze medal; his face-to-face meeting with noted drug lord Rayful Edmond III about him befriended two of his players and the result of that sitdown (03:09 - 09:43)

The Alonzo Mourning/Dikembe Mutombo era which saw four more NCAA tournament appearances as well as John protesting the Proposition 48 rule (later called Proposition 42 rule) and its racial implications for disadvantaged lower income student athletes (09:44 - 17:16)

The Othella Harrington/Jerome Williams era including a NIT tournament bid and a return back to the NCAA tournament the following year (17:17 - 18:49)

John's calculated gamble on recruiting and bringing in Allen Iverson to Georgetown and the Iverson era  (18:50 - 22:26)

The last three seasons as Georgetown head coach included the brief Victor Page era with one last NCAA tournament appearance, a NIT postseason bid and John subsequently leaving after 13 games during the 1998-99 season (22:27 - 24:27)

John's life after basketball including a position at Georgetown concerning urban affairs, his seat on American Airlines Flight 77 cancelled, hosting a radio host for ESPN 980 and locally at WTEM, becoming a commentator for TNT and hosting an interview series on various players including Michael Jordan and Isaiah Rider, a new arena and statue dedicated to him at Georgetown (24:28 - 29:00)

His passing and the legacy he left behind including an autobiography done posthumously as well as his sons becoming head coach with John Thompson III following his dad's footsteps at Georgetown and Ronnie coaching at Ball State (29:01 - 33:00)

His accolades including the high school, college and pro careers as a player as well as his career coaching record at Georgetown and all the Coach of the Year honors bestowed upon him, his induction into both the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Fame and his crowning achievement of 76 of 78 four year student athletes earning their degree at Georgetown (33:01 - 38:07)

Quotes from his own words (38:08 - 47:40)

What his teammates and various others had to say about John including his former players Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo, Allen Iverson and Fred Brown as well as luminaries such as Paul Tagliabue, Val Ackerman, Adam Silver, Michael Wilbon, Jim Boeheim and many others (47:41 - 65:56)

Call to action (65:57 - 67:15)

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