John Thompson, the lumbering giant of a coach who draped a towel over his shoulder and built Georgetown's basketball program into a national power, resigned as the Hoyas' coach Friday after 27 years, three Final Fours and the 1984 national championship, citing personal reasons he later said include his failed marriage.
A tight circle of friends tried to persuade him not to leave, including Temple Coach John Chaney, who urged a sabbatical instead. Thompson rebuffed them.
"Lending someone your team is like lending someone your toothbrush," he said.
So the Hoyas--who are struggling this season at 7-6 and 0-4 in the Big East Conference--belong to Craig Esherick now, a former player who has been Thompson's assistant since 1982. Esherick is expected to sign a long-term contract shortly.
Chaney still recalls the day Thompson was hired to take over Georgetown's moribund program in 1972, and what it meant to other black coaches.
"I was at Cheyney State at that time, a Division II school, and when I heard John got that job, I was certainly excited, and so were George Raveling and Nolan Richardson," Chaney said. "We were all extremely hopeful that doors would be opened for so many of us. We did not even take into consideration the icon that he would become."
A freshman named Patrick Ewing, T-shirts underneath jerseys, Nike's marketing and Thompson's own swings between glowering intimidation and a sort of jovial affection helped make him an icon.
So have numbers like 20 NCAA tournament appearances and an overall record of 596-239.
Thompson also coached U.S. teams in the Olympics, guiding the American collegians to a disappointing bronze-medal finish in 1988 and working as an assistant to Dean Smith on the U.S. team that won the gold medal in 1976. Smith still recalls Thompson's speech before the gold-medal game as "the finest I have ever heard."
"He was so good for coaching," Smith said. "No one--and I mean no one--could have made Georgetown a national power better than John Thompson did when he became the head coach. Every team he ever coached played hard and together and did what he wanted them to do."
Thompson, 57, ruled out health concerns, NBA jobs and Georgetown's record as reasons he is leaving, and indicated after his news conference the family problems were issues.
Thompson and his wife of 32 years, Gwen, have been separated since a fire damaged their home three years ago, and Thompson filed for divorce in October 1997.
