Hoyas are three times blessed

Georgetown’s John Thompson III personifies poise.

In the midst of a basketball season defined by personal tribulation and professional triumph, Thompson is the picture of composure, a man striding confidently through the storm.

Few stories have captivated the college hoops media over the past month like Georgetown’s return to national prominence under its second-year coach. Charged with resurrecting the program his Hall of Fame father forged into a perennial power in the ‘80s, Thompson’s appointment and first season on the Hilltop garnered significant attention.

But when Thompson’s charges toppled unbeaten and top-ranked Duke last month en route to a seven-game win streak that catapulted the Hoyas (17-5, 8-3 Big East) into the national rankings and into title contention in the most brutal basketball conference in the nation, it became clear Thompson’s tenure at Georgetown was going to be far more than an exercise in hopeful nepotism.

Simply put, the coach students and fans instantly dubbed “JTIII” has brought the goods — from his Princeton-based motion offense to his in-game acumen, teaching abilities and tireless work ethic.

Typical of this final attribute was a cell phone message Thompson left a reporter last summer, when a schedule that included attending “hundreds” of AAU games in search of recruits kept Thompson in perpetual professional motion.

“There are no summer vacations to the beach,” Thompson said, scoffing at his caller’s guess as to his whereabouts while he locked down the program’s highest profile signing class in a decade. “There are no breaks in this business.”

With the future secured in the form of two blue-chip forwards (Vernon Macklin of Portsmouth, Va., and DaJuan Summers of Baltimore) and a pair of big-name offspring (Jeremiah Rivers, son of Doc Rivers, and Indiana transfer Patrick Ewing Jr.), Thompson returned to the task at hand last fall. The top six contributors returned from a squad that finished 19-13 in his first season, leaving hopes high that the program would return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.

That’s when life stepped in, blindsiding the 39-year-old Thompson with the ultimate solid screen.

A day before Georgetown’s season opener at Navy, tests confirmed that his wife, Monica, had breast cancer. An intensely private man, Thompson told nobody outside of his family and his team. But the Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28), his father revealed the illness during his radio show. The elder Thompson was so moved by his daughter-in-law’s strength on Thanksgiving Day, when she served the entire family and team dinner before retiring on the eve of her first surgery, that he felt compelled to pay her a public tribute.

“He didn’t tell anybody. And I didn’t think he should or she should have to bear that by themselves,” the elder Thompson told Bryant Gumbel in a segment on HBO’s Real Sports that originally aired Jan. 11. “I know what he’s going through. Just yesterday, the two of them were up early in the morning going for chemotherapy. Her mother died of cancer, and I’m pleading with him, ‘John, for God’s sakes, pull away [from basketball].’”

Thompson briefly considered taking a leave of absence from the program, but those who know Monica suspect she would not have permitted it.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret: It’s the women who are the hidden strength of that family,” said Pete Carril, Thompson’s coaching mentor at Princeton and currently an assistant with the Sacramento Kings. “You always worry about people you love, but John and Monica and those kids [Morgan, 7; John, 4; and Matthew, 2)] are in great hands. That’s a very close-knit family, and they’re very strong people.”

Thompson chooses not to discuss the subject, not out of avoidance but simply because he feels there’s little left to say.

“It’s tough,” Thompson said immediately after the revelation. “Everyone has been supportive and great, and I really appreciate that. But we must keep going.”

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