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Princeton University Athletics
Tiger Saxa
March 29, 2007 | Men's Basketball
It's Dec. 1, 2000. We're in
Princeton was way ahead of
Only one reporter is waiting to talk to John Thompson III, Princeton Class of 1988, who has just won his first game as a head coach.
“Are they all going to be this tough?” Thompson asks.
Now it's Feb. 13, 2001. We're at the Palestra in
Now he's in the media room, where about 20 reporters are waiting.
“Where does this win rank?” Thompson is asked.
“I only have 11,” he says, “and this one's definitely in the Top 10.”
Now it's March 28, 2007. John Thompson III is in a hotel room in
Now John Thompson has joined his father, also John Thompson, as the only father and son to coach in the Final Four.
“It's a circus,” he says. “I can't even go outside. Everyone's calling my name, wanting to talk to me. It's insane. I feel like my father when he walks around
Make no mistake. He's not his father. He is his own John Thompson, and he got to this point the same way he won that game against
One possession at a time. One practice at a time. One day at a time. Don't worry about the big picture.
“My approach has never changed,” he says. “When I say that, people don't believe me or think it's impossible. That's the way I do things. That's the way we do things. That's the way I think through situations. The same as Day 1 at
Unlike many coaches, Thompson actually means what he is saying. He said it time and again in the Zanfrini Room at Jadwin Gym after another close Tiger win, and even if those who were chronicling these words didn't believe them, he did.
The result was an amazing 2000-01 season, when the rebuilt-on-the-fly Tigers won the Ivy League championship and brought Thompson to his first tournament as a head coach.
“I could have stayed at
He may have left as coach, but he has remained extremely close to many of the people he knew from his days as a Tiger coach, including the five he spent as an assistant coach under Pete Carril and then Bill Carmody.
“The support I'm getting from
“What my team has done this year is good and special, or at least I hope it is. But I don't want to be just a cute team for a year and then disappear. I want to build a successful program. I look at the people at
Thompson came to Princeton in 1984 from Gonzaga High in
The son's playing career at
Ironically enough, Princeton would play
As for his own career, Thompson began with Ford in the business world but gave it up to join Carril's staff in 1995, just in time for the Hall of Fame coach's final season, one that would include a win over UCLA in the opening round of the 1996 NCAA tournament. When Carmody took over, Thompson remained as an assistant, and when Carmody left suddenly in 2000, the reigns were turned over to the untested Thompson.
With a team that was missing its projected starting five, including center Chris Young and high-scoring swingman Spencer Gloger, Thompson began to develop his reputation as a genius at managing close games, and his MO at
His first Hoya team reached the NIT in 2005, and last year's team reached the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual-champion
“I've definitely tried to stop and think about it all,” Thompson says. “This is definitely not an opportunity that happens to too many teams, to too many coaches. We have to enjoy it while we're here. At the same time, we have to try to stick to our normal routine as much as possible, because that's what we do.”
The attention that he and his team received through the tournament has skyrocketed this week. Every major media outlet has wanted to talk to him, to ask him all the same questions. What have you learned from your dad? What have you learned from Carril? Talk about how you've changed the Princeton offense.
All of those same outlets have wanted to ask Carril about Thompson.
“This event has changed so much since Pops was here,” says Thompson. “It's so much bigger. So much more attention. So much larger than when they won it. It's different. It's great, but it's different. We want to make sure we keep our perspective. We worked hard to get here, but at the same time, we want to win our next game.”
Thompson celebrated the East Regional title by cutting down the net at the Continental Airlines Arena and then leading the rabid Hoya fans in a chant of “We Are …
Still, it was also very much a
But most of all, there was Carril, the retired coach who sat proudly with his Georgetown hat on, who watched as a former player to whom he gave his highest compliment – “he sees it” – reached a level he never had a chance to at Princeton.
“To have Coach there meant a lot,” Thompson says. “He's a part of what we're doing. As I've been saying, there aren't too many decisions I make where I don't have his voice in my head.”
And with that, John Thompson was off to try to take a nap, try to steal some time in his
Not John Thompson. He's not worried about the big picture. He's worried about the next practice. He's worried about the next possession.
More people might be paying attention now then did way back on that night in
He's still the same guy he's always been.
John Thompson probably slept just fine.
- By Jerry Price