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The first time that coach John Thompson brought his Georgetown basketball team to Hawaii, Hurricane Iwa struck.
Far from being deterred, Thompson prized the 1982 experience so much he brought the Hoyas back to open the next nine consecutive seasons.
“When you’re trying to give a (just-out-of-high school) kid an idea of dealing with the frustrations of living on the road, it was very, very good,” Thompson said in a post-trip interview. “The trip was excellent from a basketball standpoint of what I wanted to accomplish, of adversities that can pull a team together.”
Thompson, a Hall of Fame coach whose death at age 78 was announced Monday, was an original, steadfast in what he believed and, sometimes, quirky in how he went about building the Hoyas into a powerhouse.
His attachment to Hawaii was part of that. Book-ended by the 1982-83 and 1991-92 seasons, Georgetown was a Thanksgiving week perennial here, annually tipping off its seasons against an assortment of Hawaii small college opponents — University of Hawaii at Hilo, Brigham Young-Hawaii, Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii Loa.
Five of those 10 seasons Georgetown finished in the top 10, including its 1984 national championship campaign and two runners-up showings.
Thompson liked the idea of secluding his team with a mini training camp 4,800 miles from its Washington, D.C., campus and easing into the season while building chemistry. Their practices were sealed off, sometimes with team managers applying tape over gaps in the doors. His demeanor, depending on how his team was progressing, could range from gracious and charming to grouchy.
Meanwhile, the Hoyas’ over-matched NAIA and Division II opponents enjoyed the novelty of playing a top-20 team that didn’t ask for a financial guarantee. They packed their gyms with crowds who came to see stars such as Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning.
It was not uncommon for the players who competed against them to ask Ewing and Mourning for autographs. Sometimes during the game.
In their 1982 debut here, two days after Hurricane Iwa, the game at BYUH’s Cannon Activities Center was delayed as generators powered up the lights. When the Seasiders trailed just 27-25 at halftime, you could hear Thompson’s booming voice throughout the arena until the Hoyas prevailed, 72-52.
The biggest roar of the night was for a thunderous slam dunk that Ewing attempted — and missed.
Days later the Hoyas defeated UH-Hilo 67-37, with Ewing blocking eight shots, but Thompson was upset with their offense.
In 1984 the Hoyas, who stayed in Kailua-Kona, played UH-Hilo at the Hilo Civic. Asked about the potential for an upset, Vulcans coach Jimmy Yagi said the best chance would be, “if the road washes out between here and Kona.”
Recounting the Hoyas’ experience here surrounding Hurricane Iwa, Thompson said the team stayed in a Waikiki hotel and because power was sporadic they had to walk up 21 floors and water initially worked only as high as the 10th floor.
Thompson, who was 6 feet, 10 inches and 300 pounds at the time, told the Washington Post, “Forget about the kids, I had to walk (up) 21 floors.”
Besides, he would add, “it gives me something to be grouchy about.”
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
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