the Baller’s Almanac: September 2, 2012

It's John Thompson's birthday, born 1941 in Washington D.C. Thompson played his college ball at Villanova, where he led the team to their first ever NCAA Tournament the same year he was named an All American. When he graduated, he was the program's all-time leader in points, points per game, and shooting percentage.

After a brief NBA career, Thompson coached St. Anthony's in Washington D.C. for seven seasons. From there he was hired to coach Georgetown, a position he would hold for the next 27 years.

It took Thompson four years to make his first NCAA Tournament, and then three years later – the year before the Hoyas jumped from being an independent to entering the Big East – Thompson began a fourteen year run of NCAA appearances which included three trips to the National Finals. Georgetown won it all in 1984.

Thompson surprised many and announced his retirement in 1999 when he was 57. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame eight months later.

Nate "Tiny" Archibald was born in New York City on this day in 1948. Raised in the South Bronx he was a playground legend. But he was also a truant. He tried out for his high school team as a sophomore and was cut. As a junior he made the team but only played in blowouts. At that point he was in and out of school and got kicked off the team, and Pablo Robinson – himself a playground legend who eventually played college basketball – convinced his coach to give him a real shot as a senior. Archibald turned it around, starred for the team, and was named an All City player.

Archibald didn't have the grades to attend a major Division I school, so he enrolled at Arizona Western College where he played for a year. He then transferred to Texas El Paso where he played for legendary coach Don Haskins. He led UTEP to their first WAC Title.

Other birthdays include: Adolph Rupp 1901 (Kentucky), Roger Jorgensen 1920 (Pitt and Ohio State), Bob Faught 1921 (Notre Dame), Red Owens 1925 (Baylor), Gene Rhodes 1927 (Western Kentucky), Ed Conlin 1933 (Fordham), Jesse Dark 1951 (VCU), Harvey Catchings 1951 (Hardin-Simmons), Sam MItchell 1963 (Mercer), Richard Coffee 1965 (Minnesota), Donnie Boyce 1973 (Colorado), Jason Lawson 1974 (Villanova), Marcus Morris 1989 (Kansas) and Markieff Morris 1989 (Kansas)

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