In almost every interview session, the first thing asked of Georgetown University Head Basketball Coach John Thompson III is what life is like as the son of basketball legend John Thompson. It was no different on Friday night, when Thompson was on hand in Petteruti Lounge to receive the Fritz Pollard '19 Award.
"I don't care about it," he said. "That's not to sound callous, but I just don't mind people saying, 'That's big John's little boy.' I don't run from it. Not that I could if I wanted to. It's who I am."
Thompson's father was the architect of the dominant 1980s Georgetown basketball teams of "Hoya Paranoia" fame. The elder Thompson led the school to the 1984 national championship and recruited such future stars as Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and Allen Iverson.
Georgetown, however, struggled to a losing (13-15) season for the first time in nearly three decades in 2004, and the Hoyas turned to the son of the man who put the school on the map to resurrect the program.
Just two years into his coaching tenure, Thompson has already made it to the NCAA Tournament more quickly than his father did. Last season, Georgetown upset second-seeded Ohio State University to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There, the Hoyas fell to eventual national champion University of Florida.
For that stunning run, the Black Coaches Association honored Thompson III as its male Coach of the Year for 2006. Three years ago, the BCA and Brown formed a partnership to co-sponsor this award, rename it after Fritz Pollard '19 and hold an annual ceremony and symposium at Brown. Pollard, who led the Bears to the Rose Bowl as a running back in 1916, became the first African-American to play in the National Football League as well as the first black head coach.
Thompson was modest, saying he was surprised to receive the award. "I am appreciative ... but it's embarrassing as a black coach to have learned all the facts about (Pollard's) life that I did today. Just to be associated with a man like that is really special to me."
Despite the Hoyas' rise under his leadership, Thompson said his team still has a long way to go in order to be considered a national title contender year in and year out.
"My first year, everyone said that we would be awful and we were OK," Thompson said. "Last year, everyone said we would be OK and we were OK. This year everyone is probably going to say we're going to be great and we'll probably be OK."
Last year's surprising season, Thompson said, did little to alter his mindset heading into this year. He emphatically believes the biggest component to his success was the willingness to put in the time necessary to accomplish his goals.
"Winning is hard work," Thompson said. "It's something that I preach to my guys all the time."
No stranger to the Ivy League - he attended Princeton and was the head coach there from 2000 through 2004 - he specifically targeted some of his remarks at the members of Head Coach Craig Robinson's men's basketball team who were in the audience.
"It all starts with you guys," he said. "It's on you when you guys get together and go to the gym to decide how hard you want to work; how much you want to win."
Thompson's talk also turned to the issue of whether student-athletes should be paid. He said he sympathized with the athletes, especially those who come from disadvantaged homes.
On the other hand, he said athletes at schools like Georgetown that award athletic scholarships also had advantages not given to other members of the student body.
"I've gone back and forth on how I feel about revenue sharing," Thompson said. "A college athlete does receive tuition and room and board, and they truly do have the opportunity to travel the world (with the basketball team). A lot of these young men have opportunities they would never have otherwise, but at the same time there are guys on the team who are on their own when the cafeteria closes.
Before concluding, Thompson thanked the Brown community and also said he was impressed with Robinson's hire.
"The guy you hired (Robinson) is not good for my alma mater," he said. "Except when you play (Thompson's alma mater) Princeton, I'm going to be cheering for Brown."
Thompson also announced that he would be donating the honorarium that accompanied the award. His wife, Monica, was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago and Thompson will give the money to the Capital Breast Care Center in Washington, D.C.
