May 21, 2008

Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University Head Men's Basketball Coach John Thompson III has been selected to serve as an assistant coach with the 2008 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team that will compete in the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship scheduled for July 14-18 in Formosa, Argentina.

The 2008 USA Basketball Men's U18 National will be coached by Bob McKillop from Davidson College and Thompson III will serve as an assistant coach along with Anthony Grant from Virginia Commonwealth. The coaching staff selections were made by the USA Basketball Men's College Committee, chairedby USA Men's Senior National Team assistant and Syracuse University Head Coach Jim Boeheim, and approved by USA Basketball's Executive Committee.

"It's an extreme honor," Thompson III said. "This is something that I've wanted to do since I got into coaching. To be part of the group that travels around the world and represents our country is pretty special. And to have the privilege to work with Coach (Bob) McKillop and Coach (Anthony) Grant, and to have the opportunity to exchange ideas with them is something that is very exciting to me."

The 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship will qualify the top four finishing teams for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship that is slated to be held for July 2-12 in New Zealand.

Trials for the USA U18 National Team will be held July 1-3 at the Verizon Center, the home court for Thompson's Georgetown team, with approximately 30 U.S. hopefuls, born on or after Jan 1, 1990, participating. Following the selection of finalists, the Americans will continue to train July 4-10 in Washington before departing for Argentina.

While this is Thompson's first USA Basketball coaching selection, his father, John Thompson Jr., served as a head coach of the U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, where he led the team to a 7-1 mark to claim the bronze medal; and previously was an assistant coach during the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal where he helped the USA capture the gold medal, posting an unblemished 7-0 record.

In four seasons at Georgetown University (2004-05 to present), Thompson III has accumulated an overall record of 100-36 for a .735 winning percentage. Under his guidance, the Hoyas advanced to the 2007 NCAA Final Four, have reached the NCAA Tournament the last three years (2005, 2006 and 2007) and have won back-to-back BIG EAST Regular Season Championships. Overall, Thompson has amassed records of 168-78 (.683) and five league championships in his eight years as a head coach.

Arriving on the Hilltop in 2004, Thompson became the 17th head coach in program history. Most recently, Thompson led the Hoyas to a 28-6 record during the 2007-08 season, including a 15-3 mark in Big East play to garner their second consecutive regular season championship (a feat previously unmatched in Hoya history). His team appeared in the national polls all 20 weeks of the season, never falling lower than a No. 12 ranking.

In his third season (2006-07) at the helm, Thompson engineered Georgetown's first return to the NCAA Final Four in 22 years. The Final Four appearance capped off a stellar season in which Thompson led the Hoyas to their eighth Big East regular season championship, seventh Big East Tournament championship and fifth NCAA East Regional championship while compiling a 30-7 overall record and a sterling 13-3 slate in conference play.

Georgetown's seven defeats over nationally ranked opponents highlighted the 2006-07 campaign as Thompson saw his Hoyas reach the national polls 18 times. His 30-win season was the first since the 1984-85 team went 35-3 and only the fourth in school history.

In his inaugural campaign as the Hoya's head coach Thompson became one of only three coaches in Big East history to defeat a nationally ranked team in the conference opener. After piloting the Hoyas to 19 victories and the NIT Quarterfinals in 2004-05, Thompson guided his team to the Sweet Sixteen the following year, marking his fifth trip to the postseason in six years as a head coach and Georgetown's first regional semifinal since 2001. The Hoyas finished the 2005-06 season with a 23-10 overall mark.

In 2007, Thompson was recognized as the NABC Coach of the Year, and was a back-to-back recipient (2006 and 2007) of the Fritz Pollard Award as the Black Coaches Association (BCA) Male Coach of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award each of his first three seasons at Georgetown.

Prior to his appointment at Georgetown, Thompson led Princeton University to three Ivy League championships, two NCCA Tournament berths and an NIT appearance over his four-year stint as head coach (2000-01 to 2003-04), while accruing a 68-42 overall record (.618 winning percentage), and a 45-11 tally (.804 winning percentage) in Ivy League play.

Before assuming the head position, he served as an assistant coach at Princeton from 1995-2000 where he helped guide the team to a Top-10 national ranking and five consecutive postseason appearances. Prior to joining the coaching ranks at Princeton, Thompson played for the Tigers under the renowned coach Pete Carril. In his stellar four-year career he compiled 358 assists (103 in his senior year alone) to rank third on Princeton's all-time assist list. Before graduating from Princeton in 1988, Thompson served as co-captain his senior year and was recognized as co-winner of the B.F. Bunn Award as one of the Tigers' most valuable players.

The FIBA Americas U18 Championship format divides eight teams into two preliminary round groups consisting of four teams each. Preliminary round play will be held July 14, 15 and 16, as each team will compete against the other three teams in its preliminary group. The top two finishing teams in each preliminary round group will then advance to the July 17 medal round semifinals and the gold medal will be contested July 18. Teams placing third and fourth in each preliminary round group will advance to the consolation semifinals and play for 5th-8th places.

The USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee, in addition to chair Boeheim, consists of: NCAA appointees Fran Dunphy (head coach, Temple University); Tom Izzo (head coach, Michigan State University); Ernie Kent (head coach, University of Oregon) and Tubby Smith (head coach, University of Minnesota); NABC appointee Bill Self (head coach, University of Kansas); NAIA appointee Bob Burchard (head coach, Columbia College); NJCAA appointee Scott Schumacher (head coach, Kilgore Community College), and athlete representatives Steve Wojciechowski (1995 Junior World Championship team/assistant coach, Duke University); and A.J. Wynder (1995 Pan American Games team/head coach, Nassau Community College).

2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship

Originally known as the FIBA Americas Junior World Championship Qualifier, the tournament originally was held every four years between 1990-2006. FIBA changed its calendar, however, and the tournament will now be conducted every other year, followed in the next summer by the FIBA U19 World Championship.

USA men's teams boast of a sensational 29-1 overall record in the U18/junior qualifiers and won gold in 1990, 1994, 1998, and most recently in 2006 when the United States played host to the U18 Championship For Men for the first time in San Antonio, Texas. The USA men's team also captured bronze in 2002. Hosts of prior U18 championships are: San Antonio, Texas in 2006; Isle de Margarita, Venezuela in 2002; Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic in 1998; Santa Rosa, Argentina in 1994; and Montevideo, Uruguay in 1990.

Some top players to have represented the United States in the past U18 tournaments include Shareef Abdur-Rahim (1994); Carmelo Anthony (2002); Michael Beasley (2006), Chris Bosh (2002); Dee Brown (2002); Nick Collison (1998); Grant Hill (1990); Alan Houston (1990); Andre Iguodala (2002); Stephon Marbury (1994); Mike Miller (1998); Quentin Richardson (1998); and Deron Williams (2002).