Since before MacArthur High School opened in 2023, community members and local officials have been searching for a new name for the Ward 3 public school, one that would epitomize the school’s values: “believe, belong, become.”
They landed on John R. Thompson Jr. High School, a tribute to a homegrown basketball legend. On Tuesday, the new name garnered unanimous support in the DC Council, where a bill to rename the school was approved on first reading.
Thompson, who passed away in 2020, is best known as a former coach of Georgetown University’s men’s basketball team, which he transformed into a powerhouse and national champion.
MacArthur High School was always meant to be a “placeholder name”—it’s based on the street the building is located on—as the local community and government considered what the school’s final name should be. In 2020 and 2022, the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission passed resolutions supporting naming the school after Thompson, and, as MacArthur’s principal testified to the Council in May, students, parents, and staff landed on the same idea in community discussions throughout the past school year.
“Thompson was a native Washingtonian who embodied the value of leadership, emphasized a well-rounded worldview, and created supportive environments for young people to obtain their education,” Councilmember Matthew Frumin, who introduced the bill to rename MacArthur in April, tells Washingtonian.
Thompson coached the Hoyas from 1972 to 1999, taking over after a 3-23 season and a persistent losing streak. During Thompson’s time as coach, Georgetown made 20 appearances at the NCAA tournament and won seven Big East titles. In 1984, Thompson became the first Black coach to lead a team to a NCAA championship.
MacArthur is less than a mile away from Georgetown University. A university spokesperson told Washingtonian that Georgetown was “excited” to hear about the effort to rename the high school.
“While [Thompson] broke barriers on the court, his legacy is the mark he made on our society as he fought each and every day for the rights of all people regardless of their race or where they came from,” says Lee Reed, Georgetown’s Director of Athletics. “He was a coach, mentor, activist and friend and his passing left a gaping hole within the basketball community and, in fact, our nation.”
Thompson has been celebrated as an advocate for and protector of the players on his largely Black rosters, who faced harassment and racism. Thompson sought to shield his them from the worst of the vitriol, limiting their media engagements despite pressure from reporters and fans.
“The things that he taught me about life and about being a man in society, and especially an African American man, those things still resonate with me, even today,” says Milton Bell, who played for Georgetown under Thompson from 1988 to 1990. “I cannot emphasize enough the impact that it had on my life, and I’ve had so many other young men that also played at Georgetown to say that Coach Thompson saved our life.”
The Council will vote again on renaming MacArthur after a second reading of the bill; with unanimous support the first time, the measure is likely to pass. Bell says he is excited about the prospect, adding that, as a coach, Thompson always emphasized the importance of academics to his players.
In 1989, Thompson famously walked off the court before a game against Boston College to protest an NCAA proposal that would have denied athletic scholarships to students if they didn’t meet specific academic requirements. Thompson believed the rule would take opportunities away from players with lower-income backgrounds.
“Just knowing what Coach meant to us and his feelings about education and society and higher education,” Bell says, “I cannot think of a better way to pay tribute to such a great man.”
