Melvin Thompson (October 5, 1932 – February 5, 2009) was an American college basketball player and coach. He was the head coach at The Citadel from 1960 to 1967.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 5, 1932 Richmond, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | February 5, 2009 (aged 76) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1951–1954 | NC State |
| Position(s) | Center |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1959–1960 | The Citadel (assistant) |
| 1960–1967 | The Citadel |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| First-team All-ACC (1954) | |
Born and raised in Richmond, Indiana, Thompson played college basketball for Everett Case at North Carolina State University. Following a semi-pro playing career, he was named an assistant coach at The Citadel in 1959,[1] then assumed head coaching duties when Norm Sloan left for the University of Florida coaching job. In his seven seasons as head coach of the Bulldogs, Thompson compiled a record of 67–96. He was fired after an 8-17 season that would become the subject of author Pat Conroy's 2002 memoir My Losing Season, in which Conroy described Thompson as a mentally and emotionally abusive coach.[2][3]
Thompson was named to the 1975 'Silver Anniversary Team' by the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in recognition of his basketball career.[4] He died on February 5, 2009.[5]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Citadel Bulldogs (Southern Conference) (1960–1967) | |||||||||
| 1960–61 | The Citadel | 17–8 | 10–4 | 3rd | |||||
| 1961–62 | The Citadel | 8–15 | 4–8 | 7th | |||||
| 1962–63 | The Citadel | 3–20 | 2–10 | 9th | |||||
| 1963–64 | The Citadel | 11–10 | 4–8 | 8th | |||||
| 1964–65 | The Citadel | 13–11 | 8–4 | 3rd | |||||
| 1965–66 | The Citadel | 7–16 | 4–9 | 8th | |||||
| 1966–67 | The Citadel | 8–17 | 6–7 | 5th | |||||
| The Citadel: | 67–98 (.406) | 38–50 (.432) | |||||||
| Total: | 67–98 (.406) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Citadel hires Mel Thompson". Chula Vista Star News. June 7, 1959. p. 25. Retrieved April 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Gillespie, Bob (March 13, 2016). "Teammates revisit Pat Conroy's 'Losing Season' at The Citadel". The State. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
- ^ McGrath, Charles (March 2, 2009). "Reconciliation at the Citadel, Through Basketball". New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ "Silver Anniversary Teams | Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame". www.hoopshall.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30.
- ^ Hartsell, Jeff (February 10, 2009). "Former Citadel Coach Dies". The Post and Courier. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
External links
edit
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