In this March 9, 2013, file photo, former Georgetown coach John Thompson Jr., left, congratulates his son Georgetown head coach John Thompson III, right, after the Hoya’s 61-39 win over Syracuse.

Nick Wass / AP Photo

This developing story was last updated at 2:40 p.m.

Former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson Jr. has died at age 78, his family announced in a statement Monday morning.

“More than a coach, he was our foundation,” wrote the Thompson family. “More than a legend, he was a voice in our ear everyday.”

Thompson became the first Black head coach to win the NCAA National Championship in 1984, and took the Hoyas to three Final Fours in the 1980s. He also coached the United States national team to a bronze medal in the 1988 Olympics.

Thompson coached and mentored numerous young athletes. This includes several who are now in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame like Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson. Ewing is now the men’s basketball head coach at Georgetown.

Of the players who stayed at the university all four years, Thompson’s players had a 97% graduation rate.

Former players, like Iverson, took to social media to grieve their former coach.

“Thanks For Saving My Life Coach,” wrote Iverson. “I would give anything just for one more phone call from you only to hear you say, ‘Hey MF’, then we would talk about everything except basketball……”

This wasn’t unique to Iverson – a number of former players remember him as a mentor.

“He was always a father figure to me,” says Don Reid, who played under Thompson at Georgetown from 1991 to 1995. Reid went on to have a nine-season career in the NBA. “You would always hear lessons learned on the court for off the court. I mean, every practice was sometimes a life lesson.”

Reid, who now also coaches kids, said he last spoke to Thompson about a month and a half ago when the coach told him that they should have lunch the next time he was in town.

One of his greatest memories was when, in 1995, the team made the Sweet Sixteen and he finally saw his coach smile. “He started dancing on the court. I finally saw him release joy,” says Reid. “He was always structured. On you 100% percent of the time. Do the right thing. But that was a side of him that I finally got to see.”

At a Monday morning press conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser offered her thoughts on the death of a Washington icon.

“I know I speak for all D.C. residents in celebrating the life of Coach John Thompson, who we watched, we loved and who brought home championships to D.C. And we want to extend our condolences to his family and his Georgetown family, his basketball family, and all people who just love this tower of a man, who was an inspiration to many.”

In 1989, Thompson walked off the court in protest the passage of Proposition 48, an NCAA measure that would have banned freshmen who didn’t qualify academically from receiving sports scholarships.

“I’ve done this because, out of frustration, you’re limited in your options of what you can do in response to something I felt was very wrong,” Thompson told the Washington Post at the time. “This is my way of bringing attention to a rule a lot of people were not aware of – one which will affect a great many individuals.”

After coaching, Thompson went into broadcasting, appearing on both national and local basketball telecasts. He also hosted an afternoon radio show on WTEM in D.C.

His son, John Thompson III, also coached the men’s basketball team at Georgetown University from 2004 to 2017.

Thompson remained an adviser to Georgetown’s athletic program until his death.

Filed Under: basketball, georgetown, sports,