NBA's Celtics tap Thompson as new head coach

The lights of the Fleet Center shimmered off his neatly glued strands of hair like the bright sun off the slopes of a snow-covered mountain. Sweat seeped through his collar as if the Oxford cloth itself was soaking up every last minute in the spotlight. The clock slowly wound down to zero. The buzzer sounded and Rick Pitino looked up at the disappointing numbers on the scoreboard.

He knew it was time to leave the Boston Celtics and professional basketball. His heart told him it was the proper moment to walk his $2,000 Gucci loafers off the parquet and away from the most storied franchise in NBA history.

And now, it looks like his mind told him it was the right time to come to Princeton.

In what is by far the most surreal of many such moments for the men's basketball team this year, John Thompson '88 has resigned as head coach to accept the head coaching position with the Boston Celtics. The story does not end there, however. Immediately following Thompson's resignation yesterday afternoon, Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 announced that he would be interviewing none other than Pitino for the Tigers' coaching vacancy.

The interview will take place this afternoon, followed by an open question and answer session at Jadwin Gym in which Pitino, if hired, will take questions from both media and the general public. For more information regarding the specific time of the event, contact Assistant Director of Athletic Public Affairs Jerry Price. He can be reached at jprice@princeton.edu, or extension 8-3569.

After resigning as head coach and president of the Celtics on Jan. 9, Pitino apparently spent several days weighing his options before finally placing a call to Walters when the Tiger job opened up.

"I have to admit that I was a bit shocked when I heard old Ricky on the other end of the phone," Walters said. "He used to call just to chat about guy stuff. You know — girls, music, hair spray. This time he was all business."

During that brief conversation, Pitino made it perfectly clear to Walters that he was interested in returning to the college game — as Princeton's next head coach.

"At first I was like, 'Hells no, we got a tradition here — we gotta keep it within the family,' " Walters said. "Then I began to think of the possibilities — merchandising, television coverage, increased ticket sales. The benefits of taking on Pitino were just too good to write off."

After discussing the idea with outgoing President Harold Shapiro and other members of the Board of Trustees, Walters made the decision to invite Pitino down to Princeton for today's interview.

"Walters interrupted me right in the middle of Temptation Island — I had taped it — to talk about another coaching change," Shapiro said. "I told him that I thought we had already taken care of all that stuff during the summer, but evidently he was set on bringing in this Pitino buddy of his for a meeting. I told him he could, as long as he didn't call my house anymore."

After setting up the preliminary interview, Walters did not talk to Thompson before he left campus.

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"To tell you the truth, I had almost forgotten about John," Walters said. "Then one of my assistants reminded me, and of course, I got him on the phone right away."

For the new Celtic coach, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"It's been a hectic few weeks for me," Thompson said. "But I feel honored. I took over Princeton under the worst of circumstances and have had nothing but injuries since Day One. Yet, we still got that big win over Xavier, a 2-0 Ivy start and a helluva lot better record then a certain 3-10 team from Philadelphia.

"I guess the Celtics figured my stock was pretty high."

Thompson also noted his father's place in Celtic history.

"This just was not something I could afford to pass up — not after all the great years my father had with this organization," he said. "I'll miss Princeton, but these are the pros."

Still, when informed of Walters' choice of a replacement, Thompson did express some reservations.

"That's garbage," Thompson raged. "Does this school really think that hiring a greaseball like Pitino will keep things going around there. His fancy suits and tricky defenses aren't going to make anyone better — they should just stick with what works."

Walters, meanwhile, sounded more optimistic.

"Rick's a proven winner. Off the record, he won a national championship with Kentucky in 1996," Walters said, apparently forgetting that the NCAA keeps detailed records of postseason play that are available to the public and members of the media.

Several current players expressed similar excitement about Pitino's potential arrival.

"We're all excited about the chance to break out of this old-man offensive scheme and play some street ball," senior center Nate Walton said. "Some of the guys have even started running to get in shape."

"I think we're all ready to add a little bit more spice to the offense," junior guard Mike Bechtold said. "I know we're all tired of those signs that say 'Princeton likes the backdoor.' "

Thompson, however, looks forward to attempting to rejuvenate a Celtic franchise that has fallen on hard times. And yes, he says, he will use the Princeton offense.

"There shouldn't be any complaining around Boston," Thompson said. "This is the franchise that actually thought Travis Knight was of some value.

"And I especially don't want to hear any griping about the offensive system I'm bringing in. If these people had played 'Princeton Basketball' when they had Eric Montross, Joe Kleine and Dino Radja, maybe they wouldn't have had to sell their souls to Pitino like that."