Hoyas slumping since Thompson departure in '99

By: Jeff Johnson

Posted: 2/19/04

For the better part of a decade, the Georgetown men's basketball program was a dominant force in the Big East, making three trips to the Final Four in the 1980s and winning its first NCAA title in 1984 over Houston.

Most of the credit for the Hoyas' supremacy was bestowed upon former head coach John Thompson. After inheriting a program that was a lowly 3-23 in 1971-72, Thompson led the Hoyas to the NCAA Tournament in only three seasons.

Thompson's impact was immense, as the coach amassed a 596-239 record in 27 seasons while making the postseason 24 straight years. But on Jan. 25, 1999, Thompson shocked the college basketball world by stepping down as Georgetown's head coach halfway through the season to attend to personal matters.

Many were sad to see the familiar face disappear from the GU sidelines, but most assumed the Hoyas' success would continue without their legendary coach.

But it hasn't exactly worked out that way.

Georgetown has hardly enjoyed the same accomplishments since Thompson's departure, and the likelihood of the Hoyas making it back to the NCAA Tournament, let alone the Final Four, in the stacked Big East is as probable as current slick-dressed GU head coach Craig Esherick showing up for Saturday's noon home game against Syracuse sporting a Lou Carneseca sweater.

"Even though I knew some of what coach Thompson was responsible for, you don't really get a feel for all the things he did until you sit in that chair," Esherick said. "Every time there is a phone call to be made, the head coach is the one who people want to talk to. The toughest adjustment has been just the number of things that I'm now responsible for."

Esherick served as an assistant under Thompson for almost 17 years before being named head coach midway through the 1998-99 season, but the program has hardly been the same since he took over. The Hoyas have only made one NCAA Tournament in the last five years and have only one 20-win season in that span, compared to the 19 in Thompson's tenure.

Georgetown has also landed in the National Invitational Tournament four of the last five years, and barring its Sweet 16 appearance in 2001, has been replaced by Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Connecticut as a main force in the conference. Much of its failures have come from the team's inability to land a top recruit, one of Thompson's specialties.

"Coach Thompson just had a way of attracting big name players to the school," Daymond Jackson, a Georgetown guard and 1999 graduate said. "He just made a great connection with a lot of people, and with the success he had at the school, you knew you were going to a top program."

Thompson coached Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning and Allen Iverson, players who all went on to be NBA All-Stars after attending Georgetown. The only star recruit to play for Esherick thus far has been Mike Sweetney, who averaged 22.8 points last season but left school early to enter the NBA draft and is now buried deep on the New York Knicks' bench.

The inability to land a top recruit other than Sweetney has led to speculation that Esherick has rubbed some players the wrong way. Sophomores Tony Bethel and Drew Hall transferred to North Carolina State and the College of Charlestown, respectively, after last season, and even Sweetney forwent his last year of eligibility.

GU assistant coaches Ronny Thompson - John's son - and Chip Simms also left after the season, with Thompson joining the Arkansas coaching staff and Simms leaving coaching all together.

"Obviously when you're replacing a guy like John Thompson, it's hard to step in and pick up right where he left off," Ron Highsmith, a 6-foot-8 forward and 1988 GU graduate said. "Those are some pretty big shoes to fill."

With Georgetown sitting at 13-8 (4-6 Big East) it seems destined for its familiar spot in the NIT. But even achieving that bid isn't a sure thing. Per their yearly ritual, the Hoyas stacked their schedule - and ultimately smacked up on - lower quality teams like Grambling State, Elon and Howard. GU's four conference victories have come against Miami (twice), Rutgers and St. John's.

Unless the Hoyas earn some quality conference wins in the next month, they could miss postseason play for the first time in Esherick's 29 years at Georgetown as a player, graduate assistant, assistant coach and head coach. Whether expectations were set too high after Hoyas fans were spoiled for 27 years from Thompson's dominance, it's the territory that comes with following a legend and playing in a city like Washington, D.C., where the expectations for sports teams are high.

"We've got the Redskins, Capitals and Wizards to watch," Esherick said. "Playing in a city where you have so many other professional sports teams is definitely different from the situation that say, Tim Welsh or Rick Pitino has, where their team is the only thing around. College sports are definitely treated differently in a big sports town."