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John Thompson III and Athletic Director Lee Reed Discuss the Future of Georgetown

In an event organized by the Georgetown Wall Street Alliance, JTIII and AD Lee Reed spoke to alumni tonight at the Cornell Club in midtown.  

Takeaways from the talk after the jump:

JTIII

He likes the incoming freshmen alot.  Used words like coachable, eager, curious, tough to describe them and said they would be leaned on heavily this year.

The China trip was a great experience, all the drama notwithstanding.  Said that it was truly scary and the clips we have all seen are only part of what they went through.  He believes the military team knew they couldn't win and made a conscious decision to provoke a fight instead.  Apparently the tunnel/locker rooms were connected and tension continued back there.  Team and supporters also had to go through a gauntlet in the dark to get to the bus as power in the building was pulled.  State department wonks vetted/dictated his/Georgetown's responses to the incident.

Does not know what the Big East will look like at any point in the future or if Georgetown will still be part of it, but said that whereas the Big East was unquestionably the top basketball conference before the defections, it's still arguably the best conference as it currently stands.  Was adamant that the school needs to look out for itself and focus only on what it can control, which is keeping the program in the national eye and making the school as attractive as possible to top recruits, no matter what conference it belongs to.  This is where the facilities pitch started.  Said we cannot expect to keep the program as successful or prominent as it has been, and cannot compete for top recruits without new athletic facilities NOW.

As for all the history with Cuse, they left, there's nothing we can do, so we have to move on.

Lee Reed

Raising $55 million for a new athletic facility is his top priority.  Says all the zoning/planning/designs/etc. are being worked on furiously.  Athletics are tabbed to get a $100+ million chunk of the new $1.2 billion fundraising push.  Made a strong plea for donations towards the facilities, underscoring the urgency to get it done NOW, implying the program was destined to become irrelevant without them.

Sounded much more committed to remaining in the Big East than JTIII.  Stated that Georgetown wants to remain in a BCS conference due to the revenue streams football provides.  Said it was no coincidence the Big East school presidents met at Georgetown as we are one of the most respected and powerful members.

Stay Casual, my friends.

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