Princeton University Athletics
Bouncing Ball
December 04, 2000 | General
The first draft of the 2000-01 Princeton men's basketball outlook mentioned that Bill Carmody was eight wins shy of 100 and Chris Young was on pace to finish his career second all-time in scoring.
Neither will get any closer to those milestones.
An intriguing off-season at Princeton reached its apex in one wild late summer week, when a series of events completely revamped the Tiger program.
First came Young's decision on Aug. 30 to sign a baseball contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had drafted the 6' 11" Princeton two-sport star in the third round last June. Young's signature on the contract ended forever his Ivy League athletic career, in both baseball and basketball.
Later that day Northwestern announced that head basketball coach Kevin O'Neill had left the school to become an assistant coach with the New York Knicks. That vacancy immediately prompted speculation that Carmody would head to the Midwest as the successor, and that speculation became reality four days later.
Moving quickly, Princeton athletic director Gary Walters elevated John Thompson to become the Tigers' fourth head coach in the last 40 years, following Butch van Breda Kolff, Pete Carril and then Carmody.
Young's decision to sign came on a Thursday. The press conference introducing Thompson came one Thursday later.
"I am honored to follow those who came before me in Princeton's storied basketball history," Thompson said. "I want to let every person that ever played here at Princeton know that I will work hard to honor this tradition. Princeton is excellence, and this is no different for basketball at this institution."
Thompson, 34, is a 1988 Princeton graduate. In his five years as an assistant under Pete Carril and Carmody, Thompson helped Princeton to a record of 114-31, a Top 10 national ranking, three Ivy League championships, five consecutive postseason appearances and one of the most memorable wins in NCAA tournament history with Princeton's 43-41 victory over UCLA in 1996.
Princeton has averaged 23 wins per year during his tenure as an assistant, Princeton had a total of three seasons with at least 23 wins in the 95 years of the program prior to that.
"His basketball philosophy, character and passion for the game of basketball are all extraordinary," Walters said of Thompson. "Also, what really convinced me was his concept of being a coach at Princeton. As a former scholar, player and assistant coach here, he understands the excellence of our institution, which is one of the defining characteristics here at Old Nassau."
Thompson, who has served as the Princeton junior varsity coach for the past four years, proved to be a perfect match for the Tiger offense as an undergraduate. A forward in his playing days, he still ranks third all-time in assists with 358, behind point guard Bill Ryan '84 and center Kit Mueller '91.
Princeton's record improved every year Thompson was at the school, and the Tigers went 17-9 his senior year. Thompson and Dave Orlandini '88 served as co-captains of that team, and they shared the B.F. Bunn Trophy as team MVP after the 1987-88 season.
A product of Washington, D.C.'s Gonzaga College High School, Thompson was a first-team all-met selection as a senior. Thompson's brother Ronny, a graduate of Georgetown, is an assistant coach for the Hoyas.
Thompson and his wife, Monica, are the parents of a daughter, Morgan, who was born just after the 1998 NCAA tournament. Monica is a member of the Class of 1989.
Thompson's father, longtime Georgetown coach John Thompson, was inducted into the Hall of Fame this past year. Carril, for whom Thompson played at Princeton, was selected to the Hall of Fame in 1997, leaving him with the unique distinction of having his father and his college coach both in the Hall of Fame.
Carmody spent 18 years at Princeton, the first 14 of which were as an assistant to Carril. "I've spent 18 years at Princeton University, and coaching here has been one of the greatest parts of my life," Carmody said. "It's not easy to walk away from that. To be able to stay at one school for almost 20 years in such a volatile profession with such frequent changes says a lot about what we've been able to do at Princeton. I've had so many players at Princeton who understand how great an opportunity it is to play college basketball and who work so hard every day to make themselves better. Those are the kinds of guys I always want to have on my teams."
As for Young, his signing is the last chapter in a basketball career of great promise. Young started every game at center each of the last two years, earning Ivy Rookie of the Year and freshman All-America honors two years ago and first-team All-Ivy and honorable mention All-America honors last year.
With 801 career points he was on pace to finish his Princeton career second all-time in scoring behind Bill Bradley '65. He was also on pace to finish his career first all-time at Princeton in blocked shots, second in assists and fourth in rebounding.
Unfortunately, Young's signing in baseball will, under Ivy League rules, preclude him from playing any other sport on the collegiate level. Had Young stayed eligible, he would have had to chose between professional baseball and professional basketball.
"I'm going to miss playing basketball at Princeton," Young said. "I wish there was some way to do both."
Young, a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection each of his first two years in baseball, was a third-round draft choice of the Pirates this past spring. He spent the summer in the Cape Cod League, where he went 4-2 and was a first-team all-league honoree. Young was named the prestigious league's fifth best pro prospect.
Joe Scott, another Princeton assistant coach last year, left in the spring to become the head coach at Air Force, his spot on the Princeton staff was taken by Mike Brennan '94.
Princeton opens the basketball season Nov. 14 at Duke.
by Jerry Price