ATLANTA, April 2 – If you’re reading this, the world hasn’t ended. The sun has risen and set twice since the Hoyas’ season-ending loss to Ohio State in Atlanta. Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert and the rest of the Hoyas have returned safely to the Hilltop, and life, for the most part, has gone back to normal.
I have a favor to ask of you: Make sure it doesn’t stay that way for long.
If you enjoyed the magical ride the Hoyas took us on this past season – the exciting afternoons at Verizon Center, the memorable nights in Madison Square Garden, the road trips to Winston-Salem, East Rutherford and Atlanta – then do your part to make sure it happens again.
Grab the sleeping bag that got you through those long nights in cDonough camping out for tournament tickets and head to Red Square for a good old-fashioned protest. Refuse to relinquish your post until University President John J. DeGioia decides to pay John Thompson III the money necessary to keep him where he belongs.
Thompson has enjoyed just as much, if not more, success as any coach in the Big East over the last three seasons, yet he is one of the conference’s lowest paid coaches. With a base salary of $455,910, Thompson ranks 37th out of the 65 coaches to appear in the 2006 NCAA tournament, according to a study by the USA Today, and 11th out of 15 returning Big East coaches, according to the Washington Times.
No one but DeGioia wields the power to up Thompson’s pay, and I have a bad feeling he might not have it in him to do it.
He could have shown Thompson the money after he guided Georgetown to its first 20-win season in a half-decade, a season in which he beat Duke, upset Ohio State in the Big Dance and reinvigorated a moribund love for hoops on the Hilltop.
He could have upped the legend-in-the-making’s pay after Thompson led the Hoyas to their first Big East tournament crown since the first Bush administration, but if he has raised Thompson’s pay since 2005, the last year for which numbers are available, he has failed to announce it and the District-area press has yet to catch wind of it.
Student demonstrations preceded DeGioia’s decision to rid the university of former Head Coach Craig Esherick in 2004, so it may take another angry mob outside of ICC to get him to keep Thompson.
As you have probably already gathered, Thompson is a wanted man these days – he may in fact be the most sought-after coach in the nation. Over the next few weeks, everyone from the Kentucky Wildcats to the Charlotte Bobcats to “Dancing With the Stars” will throw money at JTIII, and (with the exception of any proposal from the ABC program), he has every reason to hear out those offers.
While I don’t see Thompson bolting for the Bluegrass State or instructing Adam Morrison on the correct way to grow a mustache, whispers echoed in the Georgia Dome this weekend that he’d love to be the next coach of the Washington Wizards.
It would be a match made in hoops heaven for Thompson, a show not too far removed from the one he currently directs at Georgetown. The Wiz run a variation of the Princeton Offense. They have a sweet-shooting, wide-smiling stud – a la Jeff Green – in Gilbert Arenas. Should Thompson miss Roy Hibbert’s clunky gait, he could seek solace in knowing that Washington has not one, but two unathletic yet highly effective big men in Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas.
All this without having to leave the comforts of his own home.
I honestly believe Thompson to be the best young college coach in the nation (and yes, I consider Billy Donovan young). Georgetown was never outcoached this season – not once. Each of the Hoyas’ seven losses resulted from some factor out of Thompson’s control. Whether the shots decided not to fall (see Old Dominion, Duke) or Roy Hibbert decided to take a nap (Oregon, Villanova), Thompson’s strategy was not the reason for his team’s failure. Thad Matta can keep patting himself on the back for his plot to stop Jeff Green, but the straight truth is that Green just had a bad day. Thompson had him in position to make a difference all game long.
In every game this season, regardless of the talent the other team trotted out onto the floor, there was a sense that the Hoyas were better prepared than their opponent. Thompson’ wizardry in the 96-84 overtime thriller over North Carolina in the Elite Eight was the stuff of legend. Not only did Georgetown steal a win from the deeper, more talented Tar Heels, it did so in a way that defied all logic – outlasting and overpowering them in overtime. After the game, Carolina coach Roy Williams looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
We can’t allow Thompson’s figure to become a shadow on the Hilltop after only three glorious years.
If Thompson walks, you can go ahead and reserve Jeff Green a seat at June’s NBA draft. Roy Hibbert will more than likely follow suit and after his breakout performance in the tournament – Final Four 1-for-10 aside – don’t be surprised if DaJuan Summers decides to jump ship, too.
“Without a doubt, [Coach Thompson] was part of my development,” Summers said shortly after Saturday’s semifinal loss. “He made me become a better player. He has been a huge part of my success.”
Already a projected first-round pick in 2008, Summers won’t want to stick around if his main motivation is gone, and I doubt that Georgetown’s incoming blue-chippers will bother to stop by at all. If Thompson goes, Chris Wright is back in North Carolina State red within the day, and Austin Freeman will ensure Gary Williams rides off into the Maryland sunset by bringing another NCAA crown to College Park. Clearly, the consequences of letting Thompson get away would be enormous.
I know that DeGioia has the funds to get Thompson to stay – the deep-pocketed alumni who forked over millions to buy out Esherick could be easily be tapped again. Whether our president has the guts to use them – I’m not so sure.
Grab a bedroll. Make a sign. Head down to Red Square. Don’t leave until our basketball future is secure.
