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Princeton University Athletics
Thompson '88 Leads Second-Seeded Hoyas, Looks For Second Straight Final Four Appearance
March 21, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Former Princeton head coach John Thompson '88 and his Georgetown Hoyas begin NCAA tournament play Friday afternoon at approximately 2:55 p.m. ET with a matchup against UMBC, the America East Conference champion, at Raleigh's RBC Center.
The Hoyas, the BIG EAST Conference regular-season champions for the second straight year, are seeded No. 2 in the Midwest region. They face the No. 15 seed Retrievers in the second game of the day in Raleigh, following the 12:25 matchup between No. 7 seed Gonzaga and No. 10 seed Davidson. The winners of those two games play for a berth in the Sweet 16 Sunday afternoon.
Thompson, now in his fourth season at Georgetown, can win his 100th game with the Hoyas with a victory Friday. His record as Georgetown head coach now stands at 99-35, including a 27-5 mark this season. The Hoyas won both the regular-season and tournament championships of the BIG EAST last season before reaching the Final Four.
The 1988 Princeton graduate was the head coach at Princeton from 2000-04, leading the Tigers to three Ivy League championships (2001, 2002, 2004) and a pair of NCAA tournament appearances (2001, 2004). His record at Princeton was 68-42.
He also served as an assistant coach at Princeton from 1995-2000, helping the Tigers to three Ivy titles, three NCAA tournaments and two NIT appearances. Among those who played for him as an assistant coach was current Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson '97, who was an assistant coach at Georgetown for three seasons before coming to Princeton in 2007.