COLUMBUS, Ohio – Georgetown’s third-round clash with North Carolina State on Sunday will be a rematch of when the two teams met last year in Charleston, S.C., a contest the Hoyas won, 82-67, and featured many of the same players who will battle at Nationwide Arena.
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But it is also a rematch of the 1989 NCAA tournament, when the Hoyas and Wolfpack had their first NCAA tournament clash in the Sweet 16. Georgetown also won that game, 69-61. At today’s media session, Raleigh News & Observer reporter Joe Giglio wanted to see if Hoyas coach John Thompson III remembered the ending of the game, which remains somewhat controversial, at least to the Wolfpack faithful.
“There’s a significant portion of the people in Raleigh who think Alonzo Mourning fouled Chris Corchiani at the end of that game instead of the travel that was called,” said Giglio.
Thompson answered that he didn’t specifically recall that game. At the time, he was 23 years old and one year out of Princeton, which had played Georgetown in the first round of the tournament and lost, 50-49.
“When you were asking the question,” Thompson said, “the first thing that went through my head was there are a lot of people in Princeton, New Jersey, that think Alonzo Mourning fouled Bobby Scrabis on the last shot of that game, too. So that must’ve been the theme that year.”
An unmistakable voice then arose from the side of the press conference area, its owner obscured by a curtain.
“Both of them were wrong,” echoed the familiar deep tones of John Thompson Jr., whose team finished the year losing to Duke in the Elite Eight.
Saturday’s moment, however, was enjoyable for all those present, even if the scars haven’t healed in North Carolina.
Thompson III was later asked about having his father around calling tournament games on the radio and maintaining his massive presence with the Hoyas themselves, whether it was fun or just part of what comes with being part of the family.
“It is definitely par for the course,” Thompson III said. “But at the same time, I’m extremely fortunate and happy. It is fun to have him here. I’m lucky that he is that voice behind the curtain in every aspect of my life, and I welcome that voice behind the curtain.”
