Q&A with men's basketball's new head coach John Thompson '88

John Thompson '88 is the head coach of the men's basketball team. He recently sat down with 'Prince' senior writer Andrew Funk.

'Prince': With the graduation of so many players who played major roles last season, what kind of changes will you make to the offensive system?

Thompson: We're going to run the same offense we've always run here — I just think it's the way you should play basketball. That's how I was taught, it's how I played, it's how I learned to coach, and that's what we're going to do.

We're fortunate in that we have a group that is returning that has played. Nate Walton, Ahmed El-Nokali, Chris Krug, Eugene Baah and Mike Bechtold have played significant minutes in big games.

P: Last season Coach Carmody called Mason Rocca the heart of the team. Has anyone stepped up to take his place?

T: It's Nate's team now, if we can just keep that old body of his from falling apart. I joke with him that he's got a 50 year-old's body. P: You're a former player and now a member of a 60-year coaching dynasty at Princeton. What sort of effect has this had on your experience at this school?

T: As a former player here, I tell this to parents in the recruiting process, 'There's nothing these players will go through that I didn't go through.' Being a player, staying close to the program and becoming an assistant, then as coach here, there is an understanding of Princeton and Princeton basketball and all that it means.

P: What special challenges have all the departures from this team created for you?

T: The challenge is that you're named coach in September, a couple of days before school started. It's normal for people to leave, it's normal for people to transfer, it's normal for coaches to go to other schools — but most of that stuff happens in the spring. It very seldom happens in September.

P: What has been the hardest adjustment for you to make going from assistant to head coach?

T: I don't know the answer to that question — except I have to do more of these things. Instead of [Carmody] talking to the press, it's me now. Other than that, not that much has changed. I've told people before that a great thing about working here, the institution aside, is that Coach Carril and Coach Carmody gave the assistants a lot of responsibility. It's not like a lot of programs where one assistant's duties are restricted to recruiting, another one to scouting.

P: How have you gotten the team adjusted to all the changes in coaches and personnel — do you try for continuity or make a clean break and start over?

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T: There is no clean break. This is still Princeton and Princeton basketball. We want to maintain the continuity that has been established here for over 30 years. I don't think there was that big of a transition from Carril to Carmody, and I hope there won't be that big a transition from Carmody to John Thompson. I think it was an emotional week for everyone. Once we got over that, you still have the guys on the team, and once you walk into this building, you have to work as hard as you can.

P: What makes it Princeton basketball? What are the things you're looking to continue?

T: When you asked that question the first thing that popped into my head is the work ethic. The togetherness the team has had — the understanding that once we come down here, once we cross those black lines on the court, that we're going to out-work everybody else. We're going to be more committed to each other.

P: Why do you choose to enter the Preseason NIT — with teams like Duke — for a first game?

T: If you look back at the history, we just talked about maintaining the continuity. We played in the Preseason NIT four years ago. You're allowed to play in it every four years. If you look at our schedule, especially in the last four years, we try to play as many quality out-of-conference opponents as we can. The preseason NIT is a great chance for the guys to get some exposure. We committed to it not knowing who we were going to play.