Coach Thompson had a second career as a game analyst and sports talk show host.  One day, he called in to his radio show from Phoenix where he would be calling an NBA game on TNT that night.  He remarked that for some reason that he could not figure out, there were a ton of Ohio State fans in Arizona.  He said that he was seeing Ohio State people everywhere in town, at his hotel, etc.  One of his co-hosts pointed out that Ohio State would be playing the University of Miami for football's national championship in Tempe the following night.  He had no idea.

A friend called me to vent.  How can anyone who hosts a call-in sports talk show on the radio have no idea that football's national championship was the next night, or for that matter, who the participants were?  "That's easy", I said.  "He's John Thompson." 

John Thompson got to own the Washington sports scene like very few others.  His face is likely on a Mount Rushmore of historic Washington sports figures aside from athletes.  (I'd go with Thompson, Joe Gibbs, Abe Pollin, and Jack Kent Cooke.)  Thompson was an athlete, a backup center to Bill Russell.  But it was obviously his contributions as a coach that land him on any list of alltime greats.  He performed magic at a school that was not at all a historic college basketball power prior to his arrival.  He fiercely protected his players and his team.  Hoya Paranoia was real; Thompson understood the value of portraying his teams as victims rather than predators.  The slightest perceived disadvantages would become greatly exaggerated.  He knew just how to remove the pressure off of his own teams and place it on his opponents.  And yet, his size and his scowl could intimidate practically anyone and everyone.  From a coaching perspective, he knew which buttons to push.

Thompson was also quick to emphasize that college was an experience.  It was more about just basketball and even more about academics.  It was about life and history and civil rights.  It was about educating players, allowing them to appreciate the struggles which others had before them, and the importance of paying it forward for future generations.         

From a GW perspective, the coach was somewhat of an enemy for discontinuing the Georgetown-GW series.  As the Hoyas began to rise in prominence, they struggled mightily before winning in double overtime at The Smith Center during an eight win GW season in 1980-81. (A great performance in defeat by Wilbert Skipper.)  Coach Thompson concluded that GW could now play these games with nothing to lose while the Hoyas had all of the pressure since they were on their way to becoming a perennial NCAA team.  The teams played the following season at Capital Centre (freshman seasons of Pat Ewing and Mike Brown) because that game was already "on the books."  And since that Hoya rout, the schools have not met in men's basketball since.  No Colonial fan should ever be expected to be happy about this but it was clear to see why that decision was made at the time.  (As GW improved under Mike Jarvis, the teams should have resumed the rivalry but again, Coach Thompson did not want to see an A10 team with no pressure play his Big East team with all of the pressure.  So, it has not happened.)
 
In his retirement, Thompson managed to maintain a presence, from taking part in the building of a new on-campus athletics facility which bears his name to sitting across from the spectators during Kenner League games.  He sat in an oversized chair during Kenner games, a throne some might have called it.  Every so often, a player or friend would be summoned so that Coach could whisper some detail in their ear.  It most assuredly had a "kiss the ring" vibe to it, which makes sense because when it came to Washington DC area college basketball, Coach Thompson was as close to royalty as it got.  RIP Coach John Thompson, Jr.  

Gwmayhem,  those are some GREAT stories about John Thompson Jr(especially about him calling into his own 980 show and asking why a bunch of Ohio State fans were at his hotel in Phoenix!! HA!), I always liked when he called himself "Joe the Fan" and his love of sausage sandwiches!! It's true that JTII did look like a KING at Kenner League games, he'd be sitting in his big chair/throne across from the crowd and all the "important people" would greet him and sometimes sit with him!! LOL  Along the same lines of John Thompson Jr discontinuing the series with GW, I need to mention a funny story involving JTII/Georgetown and American U, Georgetown used play them every year and during the 1986-1987 season, a highly ranked Georgetown team needed a last second 3 from Reggie Williams to get the win, as JTII walked off the court he told the AU coaches, "We're Not Playing You Mother F@#KERS Again"!!!  I know Georgetown didn't play AU for many years after that.

On a serious note, John Thompson Jr. did own the Washington D.C. sports scene like very few others ever have as Gwmayhem wrote, and he had a tremendous impact on and off the court. He's a D.C. and basketball legend!! Rest In Peace Big John!!

RIP JTII, a legendary Coach, quite a legacy in his 78 years

 

FredD, I think you got that backwards.  The better question is whether GW would play Howard given their incoming class?  Am fairly certain that Howard would love to beat a local A10 school. 

Mayhem- you are correct!