|
Georgetown’s John Thompson III Named Black Coaches Association Coach of the Year for 2nd Straight |
|
Written by Media Relation
|
|
Saturday, 02 June 2007 |
Washington, D.C. ─Georgetown University Head Men’s Basketball Coach John Thompson III was named the Black Coaches Association Male Coach of the Year during the organization’s annual meetings in Florida on Thursday. It is the second-straight year that Thompson has been the recipient of the Fritz Pollard Award, which is presented to a college or professional coach chosen by the BCA as the coach of the year.
The Fritz Pollard Award is named in honor of Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard, a recent inductee into the Professional Football Hall of Fame and a 1919 graduate of Brown University.š Pollard led Brown's football team to the 1916 Rose Bowl game and went on to become the first African American quarterback and head coach in the National Football League.
Thompson, who was a finalist for the Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year Award this season, earned the Fritz Pollard Award after leading Georgetown to one of the most thrilling seasons in its 100-year history during the 2006-07 campaign.š He led the Hoyas to a 30-7 overall record as the team reached the 2007 NCAA Final Four and won both the BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament Championships.
After the team started the season with a 4-3 record, Thompson helped guide the Hoyas to win streaks of seven and 11 games, respectively, as they closed out the regular season with a 23-6 overall record, including a 13-3 mark in BIG EAST Conference play.š During the regular season, Georgetown reeled off 11-straight wins against league opponents, the first time a Hoya team won that many versus BIG EAST opponents since the 1984-85 season.
The 30-win season was the first for Georgetown since the 1984-85 team went 35-3, and it was the fourth in program history.š Thompson guided the Hoyas to their fifth Final Four, seventh BIG EAST Tournament Championship and eighth regular season title.
In just three years at the helm of the Hoya program, Thompson has guided Georgetown to a 72-30 record and three postseason appearances (two NCAA Tournaments, one NIT).
He earned the BCA Honor following the 2005-06 season when he led the Hoyas to a 23-10 overall record and to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.š In his first year at Georgetown, in 2004-05, the Blue and Gray posted a 19-13 record and the team reached the quarterfinals of the NIT.
Prior to coaching at Georgetown, Thompson guided Princeton to three Ivy League championships, two NCAA tournaments and an NIT appearance over his four years as head coach. He amassed a 68-42 record as Princeton's head coach after serving as an assistant coach from 1995 to 2000. As assistant coach he helped lead the team to a Top 10 national ranking and five consecutive postseason appearances.
Thompson also played basketball as an undergraduate at Princeton while majoring in politics. As a forward, he ranks third on Princeton's all-time assist leader list with 358. An extremely focused player, he had 103 assists and just 34 turnovers as a senior. He was co-captain of the 1988 team and shared the B.F. Bunn trophy that year as one of the Tigers' Most Valuable Players.
|
Georgetown 