By John Reagan
June 30, 2018


 
It's one of the landmarks of the John Thompson era: a statistic that became part of program lore.

In 1984, following its NCAA national championship, the Georgetown media guide posted a further confirmation on the success of the program.

"Who is John Thompson? Isn't he a basketball coach or something?" asked an unsigned essay likely written by the new sports information director, Bill Shapland (C'77). "John Thompson is more than simply a basketball coach. He is an educator, a counselor, a community leader, and a contemporary philosopher."

Later in the article, it mentions the program's graduation rate.

"John's teams have an outstanding record of graduation," it continued. "In the past 12 years, 44 of 46 athletes who played four years have graduated and where others might boast of such a record, Thompson gets annoyed when it is mentioned. 'I don't want to coach another student-athlete who doesn't graduate,' Thompson said. 'An education is what these kids are here for.'"

Whether Thompson was further annoyed by the number is not known, but the number became a regular part of Georgetown's media messaging thereafter. Fifteen years later, the number had grown to 76 of 78, with still just two non-graduating seniors. By 2004, it had grown to 86 of 88.

But a closer look begs the question: who were the two?

One is known: Craig Shelton did not finish his degree in the spring of 1980. The other is a mystery and, upon further inspection, may not even exist.

To begin, let's take a look at the players cited in Shapland's original essay. There were exactly 46 students who played on and completed eligibility on John Thompson-coached teams from 1972 to the essay's debut in the fall of 1984, but not all had the opportunity to play four years. Ten of these players arrived to the Hilltop prior to the Thompson era as head coach and before the NCAA lifted the restriction on freshman eligibility in 1972. Five more played fewer than four years but graduated, and a further five transferred or otherwise left the program with fewer than four years of varsity play.

The number of students who played four years under Thompson is not 46, but 26.

	Four years	Career	Graduated?		Less Than Four Years	Career	Graduated?
1.	Greg Brooks	1972-76	1976	1.	Mark Edwards	1970-73	1973
2.	Bill Lynn	1972-76	1976	2.	Ron Lyons	1971-73	Left school
3.	Jonathan Smith	1972-76	1976	3.	Vince Fletcher	1971-73	1974
4.	Merlin Wilson	1972-76	1976	4.	Don Willis	1971-73	1974
5.	Larry Long	1973-77	1977	5.	Tom Dooley	1971-74	1974
6.	Mike MacDermott	1973-77	1977	6.	Rick Kentz	1971-74	1974
7.	Craig Esherick	1974-78	1978	7.	Tim Lambour	1971-74	1974
8.	Ed Hopkins	1974-78	1978	8.	Paul Robinson	1971-74	1974
9.	Derrick Jackson	1974-78	1978	9.	Mark Gallagher	1972-73	1976
10.	Mike Riley	1974-78	1978	10.	Ed Fitzgerald	1972-73	1975
11.	Felix Yeoman	1974-78	1978	11.	Aaron Long	1972-73	1976
12.	Steve Martin	1975-79	1979	12.	Mike Stokes	1972-74	Left school
13.	Tom Scates	1975-79	1979	13.	Alonzo Holloway	1973-74	Transfer
14.	Al Dutch	1975-80	1980	14.	Emmet Fitzgerald	1973-75	1977
15.	John Duren	1976-80	1980	15.	Gary Wilson	1975-77	Transfer
16.	Lonnie Duren	1976-80	1980	16.	Bill Thomas	1976-78	1978
17.	Craig Shelton	1976-80		17.	Terry Fenlon	1978-80	1980
18.	Mike Frazier	1976-81	1981	18.	John Irwin	1977-80	1980
19.	Ron Blaylock	1978-82	1982	19.	Jeff Bullis	1978-81	1982
20.	Eric Floyd	1978-82	1982	20.	Ray Knight	1980-81	Transfer
21.	Mike Hancock	1978-82	1982
22.	Eric Smith	1978-82	1982
23.	David Blue	1979-83	1983
24.	Kurt Kaull	1979-83	1983
25.	Fred Brown	1980-84	1984
26.	Gene Smith	1980-84	1984

 
Was 46 a typo for 26? Shapland died in 2013 and a later query to Sports Information yielded no clues on the origin of the statistic. As for the second non-graduate, this too seems in error. The Georgetown alumni directory lists a degree citation on every one of the 26 except Shelton, so it's undetermined whether Shapland missed someone or the directory provided incorrect information to the Athletic Department.

The statistic fell out of favor from regular publication after the 2003-04 season. Perhaps it is less relevant given the predilection of top stars to leave early from college in general, or that the expectation that Georgetown graduates its players no longer needs promotion through the media. What is known is that every four year player for the next 15 years through John Thompson's retirement in 1999 did earn a degree, even if the first twelve years wasn't as easy to confirm.