By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Legendary basketball coach John Thompson Jr. has died at the age of 78, as it was reported by ESPN. He was the first African-American head coach to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship when Georgetown Hoyas won the title in 1984.
During the 1980s, Thompson led Hoyas to three Final Fours, while his legacy also leaves behind the recruitment and development of four players in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and Allen Iverson.
Thompson was crowned NBA champion twice with the Boston Celtics in 1965 and 1966 before taking on head coaching duties in the NCAA with St. Anthony HS and then Georgetown.