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Coach Thompson is credited with boosting minority representation in basketball
Coach John Thompson, who led the Georgetown College Hoyas basketball personnel to victory on the 1984 national championship, has died ragged 78.
Thompson, who used to be the first shadowy coach to exhaust the title, is credited with boosting minority representation in college basketball all the procedure by technique of the 1980s.
He recruited extra than 20 gamers who went on to affix the NBA and 4 who – delight in him – are within the Hall of Reputation.
Thompson used to be furthermore recognized for protesting towards racial injustice as a coach.
Known to fans and gamers as Giant John, Thompson used to be raised in Washington DC and played professionally for the Boston Celtics when the personnel obtained the championship in 1965 and 1966.
He used to be hired in 1972 to coach Georgetown College, a predominantly white Jesuit university in Washington DC.
His appointment led to controversy. College college and fans rallied round him after he used to be met with racial abuse.
He coached Georgetown for 27 seasons, and in 1988 led the US Olympic basketball personnel to a bronze medal.
In 1989 he walked off the court docket in deliver of a league rule that he acknowledged used to be biased towards below-privileged students.
Dilapidated Philadelphia 76er and Hall of Famer Allen Iverson used to be amongst those paying tribute online, thanking the coach for “saving my existence”.