Per sources and reports, former Georgetown head coach John Thompson, Jr. passed away this morning. Seventy eight years old, he battled health concerns, several months ago undergoing surgery. His prognosis for a full return was, again per sources, not good.

Thompson is the coach who took Georgetown Basketball from a middle of the road, Jesuit, east coast school to national prominence, compiling a 536-239 record leading the Hoyas between 1972-99. Along the way 24 postseason tourney appearances were garnered, including three Final Fours in a quartet of years, and one National Championship (1984).

The school's first Black head coach, Thompson became of symbol for many of a figure protective of young African American men. This was crystallized publicly by protesting Prop 42, a rule that barred athletic scholarships for students who couldn't make certain entrance exam/GPA benchmarks.

Thompson's effort, occurring in 2007, was widely acknowledged and discussed A proponent of players earning degrees - over 95% of his guys who stayed four years graduated - Thompson felt a reliance on test scores and grade point averages in scholarship distribution had a racist impact on Black kids, many being serviced by underfunded, overworked and in some cases incompetent school districts.

Subsequent to his coaching career, Thompson worked in both radio and TV media,both including national stints, while also being elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1999.

For more on this, please see Premium Court.

Return for the latest coverage of Thompson's reported passing - a truly seismic event in G'Town Hoops history.

'Big Coach' will be missed.