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LOVERRO: Breaking down walls, helping others follow. It's who Thompson was.

John Thompson Jr. had a number of photos hanging in his office at Georgetown University during his coaching days. They all meant something special.

But one in particular had deep and personal significance for him — a photo that captured one of those defining early-career moments when the District native made it clear he intended to knock down the walls that had kept Black coaches on the outside looking in.

It was a conference title game in 1975, and the 18-10 Hoyas faced the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown, as tough a place to play as there was.