RIP John Thompson, 1941-2020

[skyvue]

I was a never a big fan of his, but his passing is worthy of mention here, since it's said he nearly became the coach at OU. He was undeniably an important figure in college hoops, as the first Black coach to win a national title at the D1 level.

 

[sheepdogs1]

The guy was just as imposing in stature as Patrick Ewing.


8:25 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=626GBGYJ3X8

 

[thebigabd]

Rip

 

[thegreyghost]

If memory serves me right OU tried to hire him/or he was a strong candidate when they hired Billy

 

[WaymanFan]

If memory serves me right OU tried to hire him/or he was a strong candidate when they hired Billy

First off, RIP Coach Thompson. He was a HOF coach who wound up coaching 4 players to join him in Springfield, MA (Ewing, Mourning, Motumbo, and Iverson). He coached Georgetown to 3 Final Fours in four years during what was probably the most competitive era in college basketball history. Here were some of the players who played in college basketball during that timeframe: Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, Domonique Wilkins, James Worthy, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Danny Manning, and some guy named Wayman Tisdale - and that is just a sampling of great players. Thompson obviously had some of his own led by Patrick Ewing...but that was an era of college basketball we will never see again.

This may not be the best thread for humor, but it's hard to talk about Billy Tubbs and his interviews without injecting some humor. I'll never forget his response when asked if it bothered him that he was OU's SECOND CHOICE to replace Dave Bliss (yes, Thompson was #1). "Not at all. I wasn't my wife's first choice, either."

 

[NMSooner'80]

Lute Olson also passed earlier in the week. I despised his teams at Arizona, but he sure did build that program up in a hurry.