John Thompson was a Washington, D.C., icon, and I don’t mean the kind of icon found on Capitol Hill or Pennsylvania Avenue.
Thompson was a D.C. native who played basketball at Providence College and with the Boston Celtics before turning to his hometown to coach at St. Anthony High School and then at Georgetown University, and he quickly became a beloved and revered figure.
And that was before he turned Georgetown into an NCAA power.
Thompson died Sunday, three days before his 79th birthday, and his 27-year run with the Hoyas, with players like Sleepy Floyd, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and Allen Iverson, made the Hoyas a cultural sensation.