Sept. 14, 2006
Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University Head Men's Basketball Coach John Thompson III will be recognized as the 2006 recipient of the Fritz Pollard Award, presented annually by the Black Coaches Association to its Male Coach of the Year, in an on-campus gathering at Brown University on Friday, September 15. The welcome session with Thompson will be held in the Petteruti Lounge at Faunce House, beginning at 7 p.m.
Thompson will be joined at the event by Georgetown Director of Athletics Bernard Muir, a 1990 graduate of Brown, as well as Bears head basketball coach Craig Robinson. The reception is open to the public and it will feature remarks by Thompson, followed by a question and answer session.
Under Thompson's guidance, Georgetown enjoyed one of its most successful seasons in recent history in 2005-06. The Hoyas posted a 23-10 overall record and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Georgetown finished with a 10-6 record in the BIG EAST Conference and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament. The team posted three wins over top-10 teams, including an 87-84 win over then No. 1-ranked Duke at the Verizon Center.
Thompson's record since taking over the Georgetown program is 42-23 with a 19-13 mark set in his first season. That year, the Hoyas were invited to postseason play and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals. Thompson's overall record as a head coach stands at 110- 65, including four years at the helm of Princeton.
Prior to coaching at Georgetown, Thompson guided Princeton to three Ivy League championships, two NCAA tournaments and an NIT appearance over his four years as head coach. He amassed a 68-42 record as Princeton's head coach after serving as an assistant coach from 1995 to 2000. As assistant coach he helped lead the team to a Top 10 national ranking and five consecutive postseason appearances.
Thompson also played basketball as an undergraduate at Princeton while majoring in politics. As a forward, he ranks third on Princeton's all-time assist leader list with 358. An extremely focused player, he had 103 assists and just 34 turnovers as a senior. He was co-captain of the 1988 team and shared the B.F. Bunn trophy that year as one of the Tigers' Most Valuable Players.
The Fritz Pollard Award is named in honor of Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard, Brown Class of 1919, and a recent inductee into the Professional Football Hall of Fame, who led Brown's football team to the 1916 Rose Bowl game. Pollard went on to become the first African American quarterback and head coach in the National Football League.
