Tim Llewellyn/The Hoya
Sport: Men’s Basketball
Position: Head Coach
Birthdate: 11/1/56
Hometown: Silver Spring, Md.
High School: Springbrook
College/Year: Georgetown 1978
Degrees: B.A. in Finance ’78; J.D. from Georgetown ’82
Current Residence: Arlington, Va.
Family: Wife – Theo Stamos, Deputy Commonwealth Attorney for Arlington County; Children – Nicholas, 9, and Zachary, 6.
College playing highlights: Four-year basketball letterman, ’74-’78 . Basketball Scholar Athlete ’76-77 and ’77-78 … Member of former Hoya Head Coach John Thompson’s first team to reach NCAA Tournament . Participated in two NIT’s and two NCAA’s . Hit 40-foot buzzer-beater in 1978 game against George Washington to force overtime, where the Hoyas went on to win.
Coaching career: Assistant Coach, St. Anthony’s High School, Washington, D.C., ’78-79 . Graduate Assistant, Georgetown, ’79-81 . Assistant Coach, Georgetown, ’82-99 . Scout and Assistant Coach for 1988 U.S. Olympic Team coached by John Thompson in Seoul, Korea . Head Coach, Georgetown, 1/8/99-Present . Record of 65-40 over three-plus years as head coach.
Favorite professor when attending Georgetown: Fr. Joseph Zyrini, my economics professor. He was a refugee from Hungary and spoke with an accent. Every single day he came into class and he wrote an outline on the board. It was clear he really enjoyed teaching. He said some funny things when he wasn’t even trying to be funny. I can literally picture him up at the board right now and I can hear him talking right now.
Do you ever plan on practicing law? Not if I can help it. It’s [not] that I disliked law school or the thought of practicing law, but I like so much what I’m doing now that I can’t think of doing anything else.
Three books in your ideal library: When Pride Still Mattered by David Maraniss; Russell Rules by Bill Russell and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Movie you could watch 1,000 times: It’s a tie: Casablanca and The Sound of Music.
Most embarrassing moment: I was one of three winners of a regional spelling bee when I was in fourth or fifth grade, so we had a city wide spelling bee for the Washington, D.C. diocese. My father worked full time, so he hardly came to any of my games, any of my school functions, but this was on the weekend, so he drove me to the spelling bee. My name begins with an E, so obviously I’m one of the earlier people to have to spell a word. The first word that I got was `hygiene’ and everybody else in front of me had spelled a word correctly and sat back down. Well, I was the first one that had spelled [a word] incorrectly and had to walk my butt out the door. I spelled it `h y g e i n e.’ I was just as embarrassed because I had been the first one that had answered a word incorrectly [as I was] because my dad had been there, and he had to suffer that.
Dorms you lived in at GU: Freshman year, Darnall; sophomore year, Harbin; junior year, Copley; senior year, Harbin. And clearly the winner was Copley.
Three people, dead or alive, with whom you want to have dinner, what would you serve? Jesus Christ, George Washington and Napolean. I would serve pasta.
You can go anywhere in the world, where do you go? Rome, Italy. I’ve always wanted to go there. You’re paying.
Car you drive: A gold Tahoe. I’m not going to give you the license plate number because my tires will probably be slashed after the next loss.
How did you meet your wife? A friend of mine from law school was in town for some convention and his wife knew my wife very well, and so he invited a bunch of people from law school and also some friends from the city over to his uncle’s house for a party, and that’s when I met her. And when I was leaving I asked my friend, `How come you never introduced me to her before,’ and he said, `Oh, you couldn’t handle it.’ I had met her a week before the Olympics, went to the Olympics and then when I came back I had a message here on my phone at Georgetown saying, `Here’s her number, call her up.’ I met her in August of ’84, and we got married in August of ’85, and so far we’re still married.
Favorite family activity: I hate to say this: sit at home and watch a basketball game. Pro, college, it doesn’t matter.
Player on the team that knows you the best: Kevin Braswell, no question about it. I’ve been angriest that I can possibly be at him, and I’ve been the happiest for him that I can possibly be. He’s been over to my house more than anybody, he’s been around my kids and wife more than anybody. He’s seen the range of emotions both in my office by himself and on the practice floor, and also, he was here the entire time I have been a head coach, so he’s seen me at my best and my worst.
Biggest sacrifice you have made for your team: Time away from my family. I haven’t seen my son play a [basketball] game yet. He’s had four games and I haven’t been to one of them. Birthday parties and all that stuff. I think the sacrifice is worth it, but it’s definitely a sacrifice.
What a player can do to anger you the most: Walk back on defense.
Most prized possession: I hate to use the word possession, but my family – my wife and two sons.
Worst moment in your sports career: When I was in seventh grade, I let a guy drive me to lose the game. My father hadn’t come to any of my games, and he came to that game. It taught me a lesson, because I really found out who my friends were on the team. It taught me an awful lot about adversity and embarrassment. I remember it like it was yesterday, and I remember some of the things that happened after that, and I think it’s helped.
True or false:
You would let your sons play for Bobby Knight: I can’t answer that one. You should figure out the answer to that.
You would skip the NCAA Championship Game to see the birth of a child: False.
You want your kids to attend to attend Georgetown: I want them to attend Georgetown if they want to attend Georgetown. I think this is a great school, [but] I wouldn’t want them to attend Georgetown because I’m the coach here.
Arena you hate the most: Providence [Civic Center], because there’s not that much control. It’s a public building, and there’s been all sorts of incidents there. Last year, the commissioner called us up before the game and basically said [we’d] better be careful when [we went] up there. And the things that [the fans] say are interesting.
Last time you cried: It’s been a lot after September 11th. There’s been a couple of things that have upset me. Probably the worst was when I heard the wife of the guy who was on that plane that went down in Pennsylvania describe her husband.
If someone were considering facial hair, what advice would you give him? Grow a moustache, because it looks cool. I would say something else, but I’m married.
Best moment in your sports career: When we won the National Championship in 1984. It’s a heck of a feeling.
Darnall or New South: I didn’t like Darnall’s cafeteria at all, so New South. And I’m not somebody who complained about the food.
Ewing or Iverson: Ewing.
Democrat or Republican: I vote both, so I’m not touching that one.
DH or no DH: No DH. I was a pitcher when I played baseball, and I could hit.
Carolina or Duke: Carolina. Bill Guthridge is one of my best friends in all of coaching.
The Post or Times:The Post
Wilbon or Kornheiser: Wilbon
Man or Zone: Man. That’s like asking Georgetown or Syracuse.
Coach Thompson Story: My freshman year, I had stayed out very late the night before and we had practice the next day. We were sitting in a row of chairs [in the gym] and Coach Thompson looked over at me and I was yawning, and he said `son, if you yawn again, I’m kicking your ass out of practice.’ Two minutes later, he looked over at me and I was yawning again and he threw me right out.
Who has influenced you the most? My mother and father. I thought that they took an active interest in the education of their son, they took an active interest in showing him that they loved him and they took an active interest in trying to make me happy. My father was in the reserve for 20 years, and I can remember when we had to say `sir; yes, sir; no, sir’ until about the seventh or eighth grade. I was raised by two parents who were strict, but I’ve never once, because of them, felt that I was not loved. I think of all the things that I can do as a parent, I think that one of the most important things that I can teach [my children] is to let them know, that no matter what they do, they’ll always be loved by their mother and father.
What is under your bed right now? All my luggage for road trips.
