Whitlock: JT III Is A Good, Rising Coach (edited to reflect theme)

ATLANTA | Georgetown isn’t quite so divisive this time. John Thompson III doesn’t polarize sports fans the way his father did when the Hoyas were making repeated Final Four runs in the 1980s with Patrick Ewing.

Hoya Paranoia is gone. So is the bruising, menacing style of play and the head coach who could intimidate with a scowl and harsh, direct words. Georgetown is kinder and gentler in many respects.

Although one thing has remained the same: The Hoyas will try to knock off Ohio State this evening and advance to Monday’s championship game relying on an all-black playing rotation.

This apple didn’t fall far from its tree. And that’s a good thing.

Hear me out. I’m a lifelong John Thompson fan. As a kid, his Georgetown teams captured my imagination and made my pride soar. Thompson reminded me of my father — stubborn, intimidating, smart, prideful and perfectly content with whatever outsiders thought of him regardless of how misguided those perceptions were. I saw a great teacher and a natural leader.

I always rejected the notion that Thompson relied on black players because he had a problem with white people. When I was a student at Ball State, I got in a shouting match with Rick Majerus when the then-Ball State coach matter-of-factly told my journalism class that John Thompson was racist and that’s why our Olympic team had only one white player.

My belief is that John Thompson recruited and coached the best players he could attract to Georgetown given its D.C. location, desire to compete at the highest level and the public perception that the team was led by a large, angry black man. America’s best white players have rarely chosen to play for a black coach, let alone for a black coach as misunderstood as John Thompson.

So Big John won with the players who were most comfortable with him. His Ivy League-educated son is doing the same thing, only Little John is using the coaching philosophy he learned from Pete Carril at Princeton.

Little John is a perfect reflection of his father, but also his own man.

“My father would be mad if we tried to do everything the way he did it,” Ronny Thompson told me Friday afternoon. “He always wanted us to think for ourselves and make our own decisions.”

Ronny, of course, is Big John’s “other” son, the head coach of my Ball State Cardinals. We got together Friday afternoon to chat about Big John and Little John. I wanted to talk to one of the Thompsons away from the media crush; somewhere we could have an honest discourse about the anti-white perception that has bugged the Thompsons for years.

“My dad always said, ‘If I was a white player, I wouldn’t want to play for me, either, based on how I’ve been portrayed,’ ” Ronny Thompson explained while holding his 18-month-old daughter in his arms. “The perception is something that (Little) John and I have had to deal with in our coaching careers. People make assumptions about me and John because of our dad, because of his persona.

“I wouldn’t want any other father.”

As Ronny and I chatted, an older white man approached our table with a big smile and greeted Ronny with a huge smile and warm hug. The man was Terry Fenlon, a member of Big John’s Elite Eight team in 1980.

Fenlon lives in Arizona now and flew to Atlanta to support Georgetown and the Thompsons.

Of course, I had to ask him what it was like playing for coach Thompson.

“It was great,” Fenlon said. “The man was a major, major influence in my life as a young man. Just great, great insight into life and what it would take to make it in this world. The man treated me great then, and he treats me just as well now.”

So I asked Fenlon how he responds when people accuse Thompson of being unfair to white players.

“Educated people don’t need to ask me that question,” Fenlon said. “It’s a nonissue. It was never an issue when I was playing at Georgetown. It’s not an issue with my friends in Arizona. They all love Georgetown because of what I have to say about the school and coach Thompson.”

In my opinion, Georgetown will try to win the national title this weekend with an all-black playing rotation because mainstream America failed to judge Big John fairly. I hope people don’t make the same mistake when it comes to Little John.

He might be the best young coach in basketball, as good or better than Florida’s Billy Donovan. I asked Ronny Thompson whether his brother should be the leading candidate at Kentucky.

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “The boy is good. Other coaches in this business recognize it and talk about it. He inspires me.”
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/17003660.htm

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To reach Jason Whitlock, call (816) 234-4869 or send e-mail to jwhitlock@kcstar.com

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Should Be #1 Pick for UK Job, Not Billy Donovan?

Are you drunk? The subject title doesn't remotely match the column.
Got no problem with the statement that Thompson is as good a coach as Donovan.

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Should Be #1 Pick for UK Job, Not Billy Donovan?

A_F, Deep_Douchebag often posts as if drunk, but really he's just assinine.

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Should Be #1 Pick for UK Job, Not Billy Donovan?

You succeeded in writing a headline that completely misinterprets the column. Perry Thompson said that, not Jason Whitlock.

You are awarded no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Should Be #1 Pick for UK Job, Not Billy Donovan?

Good column, BTW.

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Should Be #1 Pick for UK Job, Not Billy Donovan?

Does anyone else's mind boggle at the sight of a Whitlock-Majerus shouting match? Like maybe there should be a circle, big red bows on each competitor and some ceremonial salt?

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Should Be #1 Pick for UK Job, Not Billy Donovan?

Come again? "He might be the best young coach in basketball, as good or better than Florida’s Billy Donovan."

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Is a Better Coach Than Billy Donovan?

;D

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Should Be #1 Pick for UK Job, Not Billy Donovan?

Good column ... except, of COURSE Ronny T. is gonna say his bro should be the leading candidate for the UK job.
I don't see much comparison to JT3 and Billy D though. Billy's taken the Gators to 3 Final Fours and has a national title under his belt. JT3 might be an up and comer but ... come on ... can't compare the two on an even level YET.

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Is A Good, Rising Coach (edited to reflect theme)

You can't get to the big jobs at the most elite levels running the Princeton offense.

 

Re: Whitlock: John Thompson III Is A Good, Rising Coach (edited to reflect theme)

Where does it say anything about Kentucky?