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John Thompson III, the head coach for the Georgetown Hoyas, holds a record of 227-104 in his tenure in Washington, D.C.. Thompson III has been at Georgetown for nine seasons and while he has had his fair share of success, lately things have been sputtering for the Hoyas. This tumble was recently hit again by the Fla Gulf Coast Eagles in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, when the No. 2 seed Hoyas were knocked off by the No. 15 seed Cinderella, and then was compounded with an utterly disappointing 2013-14 season, marred with injuries, namely to Jabril Trawick, and other issues, for instance with Josh Smith's academic eligibility. Or lack thereof.
It is hard to go from being the team you were when you lose a key person like Otto Porter Jr. The record, and perhaps the nepotism behind him shows that he is not on the hot seat, but last season was not good at all. The Hoyas lost to the Florida State Seminoles in the NIT last season in Tallahassee, Florida, due to the fact that they lost to DePaul in the Big East tournament. And no disrespect to the Blue Demons, but that was as shameful of a loss for the Hoyas as it gets.
We have to give Thompson III credit though, because had produced some NBA talent in Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green, who are succeeding in the careers they are having so far. In 2007, after starting with a record of 4-3, Coach Thompson III led the Hoyas to their first Big East Championship since 1989, a feat that was accomplished by his legendary father. Thompson also coached the 2006-07 Big East Player of the Year, Georgetown forward Jeff Green.
In 2007, Georgetown was awarded the No. 2 seed in the East region. After an opening round win over Belmont and a second round victory in a hard fought game against Boston College then Hoyas faced Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16. On March 23, 2007 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Thompson's Hoyas defeated Vanderbilt, 66-65, on the strength of Jeff Green's game-winning shot and advanced to the NCAA Elite 8 for the first time since 1996, subsequently propelling to the Final Four for the first time in 22 years.
Since he has been head coach, he has been to the NCAA Tournament seven times.
But make no mistake about it - this is an important season. He has a good recruiting class in front of him, and Josh Smith, barring anything catastrophic, should be back this coming year. If John Thompson III gets the team to the NCAA Tournament, and makes a run, then this discussion will end for a long time. For now, the cloud looms.