Book World: An unsparing memoir from an outspoken coach
George Solomon, The Washington Post
Dec. 24, 2020
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By John Thompson
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John Thompson, who dominated the Georgetown University basketball scene for 27 years, held little back on the court and off. So it s not surprising that his autobiography, I Came as a Shadow, is brutally honest and unsparing both to many in Thompson s life and to Georgetown. Thompson, who died in August, was Georgetown s coach from 1972 to 1999. In 1984, he led the Hoyas to the NCAA Division I national championship, becoming the first Black head coach to capture a major basketball college title. He was dogged throughout his career by the repercussions of his outspokenness. There s a group of guys out there who sincerely don t like me and hope they never see me again, he writes in the book. I feel the same way about some of them, too.