Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman responded Thursday to former Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson Jr.’s recent outburst about league officiating following the Hoyas’ Tuesday night win over Creighton.
Tyler Pearre
A consistent presence during the press conferences of his son, current Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III, the elder Thompson, more affectionately known by some as “Big John,” interrupted a question posed to his son regarding Tuesday’s officiating.
“Let your father comment on that,” Thompson Jr. interjected. “They’re not blind, they saw what happened… Last two games here at home have been terrible. You can tell the f–king commissioner and everybody else in the Big East that I said that.”
His son, Thompson III, later answered the question in a more diplomatic fashion.
“During the course of the game we have to adjust to the officiating. You have to adjust to how they’re calling the game,” said Thompson III. “Sometimes it’s more difficult than others to adjust to how they’re calling the game and tonight was one of those nights, for one reason or another, we couldn’t quite adjust to how they were calling the game, but our guys fought and kept playing.”
The commissioner released the following statement Thursday:
“Today I spoke to Georgetown and expressed my concerns regarding the comments made following the Georgetown-Creighton game on Tuesday night. I shared with them we’re very proud of our officials, who are among the best in the NCAA, and we have internal mechanisms and open communications channels in place should our schools have feedback or concerns about the calls made in our games. It’s clear that the intensity level in the Big East is as high as ever, and I know our officials will continue the high standards of Big East basketball.”
Georgetown Athletics, which posts video of every home postgame press conference, has since taken down the original video.
Thompson Jr. coached the Hoyas from 1972-1999, winning the 1984 National Championship as well as making two additional Final Four appearances. He currently holds the titles of Coach Emeritus and Presidential Consultant for Urban Affairs at Georgetown University.
