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Georgetown’s John Thompson III on autonomy: ‘Whatever they do, we will do. 100% across the board’

John Thompson III

Georgetown coach John Thompson III applauds during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against DePaul, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013, in Washington. Georgetown won 61-54. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

AP

With the changes in the NCAA’s governing structure that will provide the Power 5 programs with autonomy, one of the biggest concerns for fans of programs outside of ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC is that they will be left in the dust, that they’re going to be an afterthought as players migrate towards the schools that have bigger budgets and high profile football.

I’ve already tried to quell the fears of those fans, but if my word wasn’t strong enough, maybe Georgetown head coach John Thompson III’s will be.

“I’m here to say that wherever they float off to as it relates to men’s basketball, we’re floating too,” Thompson told CSNWashington.com. “Whatever changes come down the pike, we care just as much about the student-athlete’s overall experience as they do. Whatever changes come up, no matter what they are, we will follow as it relates to men’s basketball.”

“Whatever they do, we will do. One hundred percent across the board.”

And they can.

One of the stipulations of Power 5 autonomy is that any program outside of the five biggest conferences can adopt all the rule changes. They aren’t excluded from paying stipends or flying family members to tournament games if the bigger schools want to do it. The only thing they are excluded from is the decision-making process itself.

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