JT3 Must Resign to Save Georgetown Basketball

Is this some cruel joke?

I apologize in advance if (m)any of these points were already on this website, but candidly, I haven't had much interest in writing about the Hoyas over the past few years. Yes, I know, odd behavior from an original cast member of the site, but not as odd as the current situation brewing on the Hilltop.

To put it simply, it is beyond my comprehension that anyone in their right minds, outside of the Thompson family, is arguing for having John Thompson III back as head basketball coach for another year.

Let's take away all of the emotion and just work off of facts for a bit.

Since March 31, 2007, when Georgetown last played beyond the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, the following events have occurred:

Apple released the iPhone (2007)
The world went into a financial crisis (2008)
George W. Bush left office (2008)
Barack Obama entered office (2009)
Sully landed his plane (2009)
Apple released the iPad (2010)
Prince William and Princess Kate got married (2011)
Hurricane Sandy ravaged the east coast (2012)
Barack Obama was inaugurated again (2013)
Russia annexed Crimea (2014)
Donald Trump began his run for president (2015)
Barack Obama left office (2016)
Donald Trump entered office (2017)

Do you know what Georgetown basketball has done since March 31, 2007?

2008 - Lost to #10 seed Davidson in 2nd round of NCAA Tournament
2009 - Flamed out from a top 10 team to an NIT qualifier
2010 - Lost to #14 seed Ohio in 1st round of NCAA Tournament
2011 - Lost to #11 seed VCU in 1st round of NCAA Tournament
2012 - Lost to #11 seed NC State in 2nd round of NCAA Tournament
2013 - Lost to #15 seed Florida Gulf Coast in 1st round of NCAA Tournament
2014 - Lost in 2nd round of NIT
2015 - Lost to #5 seed Utah in 2nd round of NCAA Tournament
2016 - Finish 15-18, do not qualify for post season
2017 - Finish 14-18, do not qualify for post season

Georgetown has accomplished all of these feats while paying the man pulling the strings somewhere between $2.5-3.7 million dollars per year, which does not include whatever in the world the school is paying his 75 year old father who hasn't coached the team since 1999. It is reasonable to assume that the Thompson family collectively is being paid $5+ million dollars per year by little old Georgetown. By my math, you multiply $5 million by 10 years and whatever Big John was paid between 1999-2007, and you easily pay for Georgetown's new $62 million basketball facility.

Let's put that $5 million dollars per year in context. In all of college basketball, only Mike Krzyzewski and John Calipari are getting paid more than the Family Thompson. And for what?

3 NCAA wins in 10 years and 2 consecutive sub-.500 seasons.

Yet, somehow people still want this family around? Why? Is it the "family" atmosphere that they have created? The very same atmosphere in which two of the top 10 players in program history have seen their sons transfer in the last few years? The same loving family environment that ex-players are afraid to go on record about the program's struggles because of fear of retribution?

And I haven't even gotten into the last two weeks. First, star recruit Tremont Waters de-committed, and with him went the lone reason the fanbase had any shred of optimism for next season and beyond. Then Trey Mourning transferred. Then Hoya greats Reggie Williams and Michael Graham spoke out against the program. Then LJ Peak declared for the NBA draft a year early.

What’s coming next? How much more can a fanbase take?

There are rumblings that three more transfers are coming so long as JT3 is the coach. Assuming those events play out, there will be 4 returning scholarship players and 1 incoming scholarship player for the start of the 2017-2018 season. 5 scholarship players for $5 million per year. A scholarship player for every $1 million that Georgetown is paying the Thompsons for their services.

Money issues aside, is there any hope that the team’s performance on the court will improve next season? How about the following one? Or the year after that? What are we doing?

Apparently there is a group of individuals within the administration and fanbase that believe Georgetown cannot do better than its current coaching situation. With $5 million to spare, a state-of-the-art practice facility, 45 years of basketball tradition, smack in the center of the best high school basketball ecosystem in the entire country, I respectfully beg to differ.

Again, I ask, is this some cruel joke?

Anyone outside of the Thompson family who realistically believes that JT3 should be the coach tomorrow is out of his or her mind. And if JT3 does return, then I hope that every game next year is littered with signs and Snapchat filters not only calling for his exit, but for those of Jack DeGioia and anyone else who might be responsible for this embarrassing farce. For all those in charge of this (in)decision, do know that there is no bigger disaster in all of sports right now than the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team.

I hope the $5 million is worth it.