Wall Street Alliance with Coach

[hoyasaxadc]

In case anyone missed this email, there's still time to RSVP..

Georgetown Wall Street Alliance
and the Georgetown Athletic Department
for a conversation with

John Thompson III
Head Coach, Men's Basketball
Georgetown University
Tuesday October 4, 2011
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Cornell Club
6 E 44thStreet
New York, NY 10110
Space is limited. RSVP required.

Please RSVP to Merle Anselm with your name, school year and contact number at [e-mail] or 212-704-0884 ext. 12

Entering his ninth season as the head coach, John Thompson III has added new chapters to the rich history of Georgetown men's basketball. Since his arrival on the Hilltop, the Hoyas have advanced to one Final Four (2007), won a BIG EAST Tournament title (2007), won back-to-back BIG EAST Regular Season titles (2006-07, 2007-08), appeared in the NCAA Tournament five times (2006-08, 2010-11) and have been invited to the National Invitational Tournament twice (2005, 2009). He is a two-time winner of the Black Coaches Association Male Coach of the Year Award (2007, 2008) and was named the 2007 National Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year. He played basketball for the Princeton Tigers, majoring in politics as an undergraduate. Thompson, 43, grew up in Washington, D.C., where he graduated from Gonzaga College High School.

[RusskyHoya]

Oct 3, 2011 20:27:45 GMT -5 hoyasaxadc said:

Entering his ninth season as the head coach, John Thompson III has added new chapters to the rich history of Georgetown men's basketball.

1. 2004-2005
2. 2005-2006
3. 2006-2007
4. 2007-2008
5. 2008-2009
6. 2009-2010
7. 2010-2011
8. 2011-2012
9...

This is why we can't have nice things

[LizziebethHoya]

Oct 3, 2011 21:14:48 GMT -5 RusskyHoya said:

Oct 3, 2011 20:27:45 GMT -5 hoyasaxadc said:

Entering his ninth season as the head coach, John Thompson III has added new chapters to the rich history of Georgetown men's basketball.

1. 2004-2005
2. 2005-2006
3. 2006-2007
4. 2007-2008
5. 2008-2009
6. 2009-2010
7. 2010-2011
8. 2011-2012
9...

This is why we can't have nice things

It's a Wall Street group - gotta inflate the numbers! (Kidding)

[lichoya68]

hey man 2011-2-12 season HAS accomplished things..... already thats this years season begun ...in CHINA where were undefeated.... yup three wins and a tie vs the toughest best meanest chinese pla army and pro team...... SO great things..... even in THIS years season ...... no wall street inflated numbers here .......... you just forgot the games have begun .......and watch out world....... the newbies are coming .......AND they are battle tested.. take no prisoners!!!1. long, lanky, athletic ,and VERY talented.. run and pass and shoot and rebound,, AND defend too! cant wait for the REST of the 2011-12 season!1 go hoyas! SUE PITT ;D ;D ;D ;D

[lichoya68]

ps great event for coach to agree to do and have a feeling it has SOMETHING to do with our new hoya hoop YELP representative in new york just a hunch here go hoyas go hoya yelp reviewer.. SUE PITT ;D ;D

[kchoya]

Oct 3, 2011 21:14:48 GMT -5 RusskyHoya said:

Oct 3, 2011 20:27:45 GMT -5 hoyasaxadc said:

Entering his ninth season as the head coach, John Thompson III has added new chapters to the rich history of Georgetown men's basketball.

1. 2004-2005
2. 2005-2006
3. 2006-2007
4. 2007-2008
5. 2008-2009
6. 2009-2010
7. 2010-2011
8. 2011-2012
9...

This is why we can't have nice things

You're forgetting to count his one year at Georgetown Univeristy

[SirSaxa]

Oct 4, 2011 6:57:28 GMT -5 lichoya68 said:

hey man 2011-2-12 season HAS accomplished things..... already thats this years season

Lic, I think you missed the point.
The 2011/12 season will be JT3's 8th Season at GU,
not his 9th.

I think he'll accomplish great things in his 8th AND 9th Seasons and beyond,
but last year was his 7th season.

FYI: I emailed Merle to see if I can get in tonight.
If so, I'll post some comments later.

[lichoya68]

7 eight or nine.. ouch! and im supposed to be good iin math ...ouch ...and bad in anglish .... now i have NO academic ability.!1 OUCH ..go hoyas .... hope the event is GREATTTTTTT tonite.... go hoyas hope even more hoyas get to realize what a class act jt3 is

[Nevada Hoya]

Lic, you would have made a great psychology major.

[LizziebethHoya]

Anyone have a recap?

[SirSaxa]

Lizzie, am I the only HoyaTalker who went to this GU-Wall St. Alliance event at the Cornell Club? I must admit, I didn't see any of the usual CAFE 31 crowd there. To tell the truth, everyone looked like they ... worked on Wall St!

Actually, with all this Conference talk going on, I now believe we SHOULD join the Ivy League -- as long we get one of these swanky NYC Clubs like Harvard, Yale and Cornell have! Very classy.

Disappointingly, there wasn't much talk about the team and the upcoming season. Lots about the BE conference, Practice Facility, and the China trip. We got the "off the record" version, not the public one, about the Fight. I guess I shouldn't share those details here. I think I can add that JT3 said they stayed at the same hotel as the VP, so when the got back there someone from STATE came down to talk to the coaches to let them know whatever statement they put out had to be "just right". They weren't just talking basketball or representing GU, this had the potential to be an international incident. In China saving face is a big deal, etc. Those in the room tonight thought JT3 succeeded brilliantly with his statement and gave him a big hand.

One funny aside, JT3 said to DeGioia, "well, you wanted to come to China to get the GU name known. After tonight's game, EVERYONE in China knows GU!"

Much of the rest of the conversation was about the BE Conference and the importance of the Training facility -- even a greater priority now with the conference uncertainties. JT3 said his attitude was to make GU basketball as good as it can be so that whatever happens, GU will be desirable to TV folks and others.

He did point out that everyone is talking about the post Cuse/Pitt BE as though we stink. But this past season, the BE had 11 teams in the NCAA and the ACC had 4. Switching Cuse and Pitt gives the ACC 6, but the BE would still have 9. He added "ask anyone, and even with pitt and cuse, most teams and coaches would rather go up against the easier ACC than the BE." He said the BE went from "far and away the absolute best basketball conference in America to Arguably the best conference in the country".

As for the training facility -- sounds to me like very little progress has been made because it has never been a priority for the Admin. Lee Reed and Coach want it to happen now and are hoping the GU-Wall St Alliance can play a big role to help make it happen. More crucial than ever due to the BE conference mess. Will it happen? Well, at least Zo is on the board now so we know it will get support at Board Meetings.

HEY SAXA! What about the T-E-A-M!?!?!

OK OK!!
JT3 did share a few interesting tidbits. First of all, he LOVES these new kids - all 5 of them. Called them EAGER, OPEN, WILLING and, in so many words, COACHABLE. He also added TOUGHNESS and INTENSITY. He thinks that China trip was an incredible bonding experience and the extra weeks of practice and games were super valuable because.... wait for it... he is absolutely counting on the new guys to make big contributions this year. He compared this team to his First at GU, because of all the youth and potential. HE did single out Porter as someone who is VERY good.

The other news? (It was to me anyway). We have TWO scrimmages before our first game. The first is against JMU. The second? A surprise. UNC! I like that.

So that was it for the public discussion. However I did manage to snag coach for a moment after the event and told him I wished I'd had the chance to get a question in during the Q&A because I wanted to ask about the team. Then I rattled off about 10 Q's in one sentence... will the frosh be getting serious minutes? Does that mean we'll run more? What about Othella? Will he be working with the Big Guys? Does that mean more pick & roll in the O? and a few more.

JT3 just looked at me and said, "Yes, Yes to ALL of that"!
My take on that was: lots of PT for the frosh, deeper rotation, more aggressive D, and further evolution in the offense.

Wish more of YOU guys could have been there!

[alleninxis]

thanks saxa! much appreciated.

[DanMcQ]

Thanks SirSaxa. I'm sure Tom Wong was there as well.

[nathanhm]

I was there as well, SirSaxa did a great recap.

A couple of other points that were mentioned. The practice facility costs $55 million, we currently have $9-10 million raised. The school is kicking off a $1.5 billion dollar campaign in the next few weeks, $150 million is earmarked for the Athletic Department, and $65 million of that is for infrastructure and facility improvements.

The AD didn't believe that zoning was going to be a major hurdle, we just need to raise the money like yesterday. Additionally people asked about the viability of a basketball only conference which JT3 and the AD seemed pretty unimpressed about. Feel the best long term solution is to maintain membership in a conference with football because of TV contracts and national recognition.

[LizziebethHoya]

Thanks SirSaxa! I'm interested to hear the "off the record" China story, but I'm sure I'll eventually hear it from someone.

[lichoya68]

GREAT summaries coach is AMAZING and glad to hear about the frosh thats what i saw in kenner and china we will be underrated and overperform for sure we will see cant wait its almost feburary first couple of weeks very tough with maui OUCH and bama at bama but after that WATCH OUT WORLD HERE COME THE HOYAS tall lanky athletic defense hustle intense running passing yup these frosh are athletic big and pretty darn good GO HOYAS ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[lichoya68]

SIX FIVE PHILLY POINT and four big athletic frosh AND our returning guys WATCH OUT WORLD

[HoNYaSaxa]

Oct 4, 2011 21:56:46 GMT -5 nathanhm said:

I was there as well, SirSaxa did a great recap.

A couple of other points that were mentioned. The practice facility costs $55 million, we currently have $9-10 million raised. The school is kicking off a $1.5 billion dollar campaign in the next few weeks, $150 million is earmarked for the Athletic Department, and $65 million of that is for infrastructure and facility improvements.

The AD didn't believe that zoning was going to be a major hurdle, we just need to raise the money like yesterday. Additionally people asked about the viability of a basketball only conference which JT3 and the AD seemed pretty unimpressed about. Feel the best long term solution is to maintain membership in a conference with football because of TV contracts and national recognition.

I agree that the tone of the evening with respect to conference affiliation was that alignment with a football conference is absolutely necessary in order to obtain guaranteed TV time. Network-Conference contracts offer guaranteed TV representation for football and basketball (a fixed number of slots/games televised), and, because a basketball-only conference would present a less valuable media sell for a given network, that network would not only pay less for media rights but would also only be willing/able to offer less TV exposure. Basically, riding the tailcoats of the football "haves" pays off.

Lee Reed and Coach affirmed that if Georgetown wants to continue the tradition of large-scale TV/written/online publication exposure that is associated with the Big East, it has to stay in the Big East, or a like conference, with football membership. That and a significant improvement in facilities as represented by the commitment to the IAC are the only ways to stay relevant on the national recruiting scene. Reed mentioned that it is "amazing" that Coach manages to stay in contention with the top recruits in the country given where our facilities are. It's fine to sell the staff, the teammates, the academics, the campus community and the allure of playing at the Verizon Center that Georgetown provides, but at some point, there has to be something real to sell as well -- that's where the IAC comes in. Reed also stated that our facilities are not and won't ever be akin to the YUM facilities at Louisville, but at this point, they're not even at par with a VCU. He knows the reality as well as we do and offered to personally walk anyone through underbelly of McDonough to prove it.

Reed made sure to offer that the IAC (or at least parts of it) will benefit all 727 of our student athletes across 29 sports -- the weight/training, sports medicine, academic center, and team meeting rooms will be open to all student athletes.

I pulled Reed aside afterward to ask why, in an event linked with the Wall Street Alliance (a group that would probably enjoy noodling over the numbers), he didn't get into the terms of a potential bridge or debt financing that would allow the University to break ground on the IAC before all $55 million in commitments have been obtained (but relying on them nonetheless). He said it's in the works, and I believe him, as he said during his impassioned open comments that "shovels need to be in the ground yesterday."

I should note that it was a very strong turnout, perhaps 150 people. While some of the folks in attendance may not have been the "Cafe 31 crowd," I recognized many of them to be staunch supporters of our university in its academic, athletic, cultural and faith-based pursuits.

[thebin]

Honestly if the entire future of our athletic department depends on building the IAC quickly (in Gtown terms lets say under a decade), and it might, you could say that the longterm health of the university from even an academic standpoint relies on it rather directly. In that case, pull the $ out of the endowment now and get the dirt flying. An emergency measure to be sure, but we might be there now that we did NOTHING for the last two decades to bring athletic facilities up to near par.

[JohnJacquesLayup]

Oct 5, 2011 9:32:32 GMT -5 thebin said:

Honestly if the entire future of our athletic department depends on building the IAC quickly (in Gtown terms lets say under a decade), and it might, you could say that the longterm health of the university from even an academic standpoint relies on it rather directly. In that case, pull the $ out of the endowment if necessary. And emergency measure to be sure, but we might be there now that we did NOTHING for the last two decades to bring athletic facilities up to near par.

I tend to agree, but if you look at my personal finances you'd see I'm in no position to understand the implications of tapping $1,000,000,000.00 to get the IAC moving. But it sounds reasonable enough if we've really hit a critical juncture--hit up the endowment for 3%, added to the funds already raised and we're pretty close.