RIP John Thompson

[superjohn]

You were the one who accused him of underachieving when he did not. There were two clearly better teams than his that year, and he went as far as he should have.

Three clearly better teams than his that year.

 

[dennismenace]

"and losing to a coked up Villanova team" ????

Can you expand on this?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Coach Thompson had an enormous positive impact on me at a young age. I just finished 7th grade when I went to PC basketball camp the summer after Ernie D's FF. You hear the coaches and councilors talking and they were particularly pumped for that mornings guest speaker, John Thompson on rebounding. They mentioned how great it was he got "that job". Of course, I had no clue what job that was then. I had never heard of Thompson. So I'm sitting on the floor upfront when coach comes into the gym. He was huge of course, even bigger from that angle.

I remember his talking about always having your arms up if you want to rebound. So later when we got to those Big East games and saw the G'town guys with their arms always up getting all the rebounds, I knew where that came from. He said, "You have to keep your arms in the air because I don't know anyone who can rebound with their feet!" All of a sudden cries rang out "Leon!" Leon!" Leon can rebound with his feet!" I immediately looked over to Leon. He was the camp nerd and looked the part. A 17 or so, dark haired Napoleon Dynamite with black calf socks. He had been catching crap all week from the older guys.

Coach says "Leon, please come up here." Leon, not thrilled with the attention walks up, stands next to Thompson, whereupon Coach puts his hand on Leon's shoulder and says, "I've been here watching you guys play. One thing I noticed about Leon is that he is giving his best at everything he does" Suddenly, Thompson steps forward and points to the biggest mouth and says, "Do you?!" He asked another couple of guys, they all had no answer and he says, "No, you don't. But Leon does. Trying your best, even under tough circumstances is a sign of being a man. Leon is a man." He turns to Leon, sticks out his hand and says, "Leon, it was my pleasure to meet you." I'll never forget that. Thompson was a righteous dude.

That's an awesome story.

 

[CL82]

Rest in Peace, Coach! It was tough to not like you.

View attachment 58218

That was so funny.

 

[Waquoit]

That's an awesome story.

Thanks. I used to tell it a lot back when folks were accusing him of nefarious things because he had an all-black roster on occasion.

 

[jayteeman]

Spoke volumes with a stare and didn't need an interpreter.....what a giant....RIP good man.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

Rest easy Coach Thompson.

 

[superjohn]

Thanks. I used to tell it a lot back when folks were accusing him of nefarious things because he had an all-black roster on occasion.

Big John used to get relentlessly bashed for being racist, I recognized how wrong it was as a kid but the guy's like him who are way ahead of the curve always get major backlash.

 

[NJHusky]

Coach Thompson had an enormous positive impact on me at a young age. I just finished 7th grade when I went to PC basketball camp the summer after Ernie D's FF. You hear the coaches and councilors talking and they were particularly pumped for that mornings guest speaker, John Thompson on rebounding. They mentioned how great it was he got "that job". Of course, I had no clue what job that was then. I had never heard of Thompson. So I'm sitting on the floor upfront when coach comes into the gym. He was huge of course, even bigger from that angle.

I remember his talking about always having your arms up if you want to rebound. So later when we got to those Big East games and saw the G'town guys with their arms always up getting all the rebounds, I knew where that came from. He said, "You have to keep your arms in the air because I don't know anyone who can rebound with their feet!" All of a sudden cries rang out "Leon!" Leon!" Leon can rebound with his feet!" I immediately looked over to Leon. He was the camp nerd and looked the part. A 17 or so, dark haired Napoleon Dynamite with black calf socks. He had been catching crap all week from the older guys.

Coach says "Leon, please come up here." Leon, not thrilled with the attention walks up, stands next to Thompson, whereupon Coach puts his hand on Leon's shoulder and says, "I've been here watching you guys play. One thing I noticed about Leon is that he is giving his best at everything he does" Suddenly, Thompson steps forward and points to the biggest mouth and says, "Do you?!" He asked another couple of guys, they all had no answer and he says, "No, you don't. But Leon does. Trying your best, even under tough circumstances is a sign of being a man. Leon is a man." He turns to Leon, sticks out his hand and says, "Leon, it was my pleasure to meet you." I'll never forget that. Thompson was a righteous dude.

GREAT STORY...was Leon BMOC after that?

 

[swami7774]

I hated him but respected the hell out of him. And I did like seeing him glaring at the pencil-neck Boeheim on “Big Monday” broadcasts.

 

[swami7774]

Math challenged?

Common Core math.

 

[swami7774]

That team reached the East Regional Final. They were run out of the building by UMass, but that was a great UMass team. The 1996 Kentucky team is considered one of the greatest ever, and UMass beat them by 10 points. Unfortunately for UMass, they lost in the rematch, which the defacto National Championship game.

And then everything that UMess team did disappeared.

 

[Ratso]

he was the big east

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Yes. There are reports of killer asteroids coming our way and Harry Stamper is nowhere to be found.

Call in Rockhound.

 

[Waquoit]

GREAT STORY...was Leon BMOC after that?

Not quite, but nobody picked on him anymore.

 

[jdb50]

JT was very good as the color man on college BB broadcasts and I appreciated him being there. Saw UConn beat GTown at the Fieldhouse when John Thomas would clean the boards for us. JT really put that program on the map. When he was on the court coaching it was a Big game. RIP Big John. Help this world from the other side please!

 

[swami7774]

he was the big east

He was an important part of the Big East. There were others just as important to the league’s Early days of establishment and development—including but not limited to Carnesecca, Boeheim, Massimino, and many players(and, of course, eventually one Jim Calhoun).

 

[ChrisSmithsPart]

He was an important part of the Big East. There were others just as important to the league’s Early days of establishment and development—including but not limited to Carnesecca, Boeheim, Massimino, and many players(and, of course, eventually one Jim Calhoun).

It's true that a great league will always be bigger than one person or program but JT and Gtown were the one's that intially legitamized the Big East. 3 in 4 years. Without that initial push the history of the league would've been completely different. IMO, he was more than an important part, he was first and no other BE coach can claim that.

 

[swami7774]

It's true that a great league will always be bigger than one person or program but JT and Gtown were the one's that intially legitamized the Big East. 3 in 4 years. Without that initial push the history of the league would've been completely different. IMO, he was more than an important part, he was first and no other BE coach can claim that.

To say he “was the Big East“ is ridiculous.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Was a big fan in the early to mid-80's except for when they played against Phi Slamma Jamma. Too many Villanova fans in my house at that time and I had to root for Gtown. Those Ewing teams were great but I was more a fan of Floyd, Wingate and Williams than Ewing.

By the time UConn started getting good and having the Dream Season Gtown was just another BE team UConn needed to take down.

 

[swami7774]

Was a big fan in the early to mid-80's except for when they played against Phi Slamma Jamma. Too many Villanova fans in my house at that time and I had to root for Gtown. Those Ewing teams were great but I was more a fan of Floyd, Wingate and Williams than Ewing.

By the time UConn started getting good and having the Dream Season Gtown was just another BE team UConn needed to take down.

Floyd was great. Wingate was good. I couldn’t stand Williams.

 

[B1GEast]

Great coach, legend. RIP JT

 

[Jimdish255]

Sorry to hear this. Clearly a giant in the world of Big East Basketball and legendary Coach. But of course much more than that to friends, family and players. RIP Coach.

 

[swami7774]

The ESPN show “Requiem for the Big East” Included a clip of Thompson being asked, after the ‘84 championship game, the perfunctory “how does it feel to be the first black coach to win the NCAA title?” He sort of dismissed the racial angle and said he was most proud of becoming the first coach to lead a northeastern team to the championship. That spoke volumes.

 

[JB75]

Pretty much saved Iversons life. Rip big john. Huge cornerstone of the big East. 4 months left and this trash year is over