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John Thompson statue unveiled in new practice facility

Bradley Hayes, John Thompson Jr.

Georgetown center Bradley Hayes (42) is greeted by John Thompson Jr., right, father of Georgetown head coach John Thompson III, after an NCAA college basketball game against Syracuse, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, in Washington. Georgetown won 79-72. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

AP

Georgetown University officially opened the John Thompson Jr. Intercollegiate Athletic Center on Thursday.

According to Gene Wang of the Washington Post, the project cost $62 million dollars for the 144,000 square-foot facility. The men’s basketball program will use two of the five floors in the building.

In the main entrance is a bronze statue of the legendary coach the center is named after. Thompson coached the Hoyas to three Final Fours and one national championship in 1984. He made Georgetown a big man factory from Patrick Ewing to Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo. All three centers, like Thompson, have been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

This facility will be used to help Georgetown lure recruits to campus. If you’re a highly-touted recruit, Georgetown offers top-notch academics, a major city, home games in an NBA arena and first-class facility to train. That’s a good sales pitch for a coaching staff that is looking to get the program back to the national power it was under the Hall of Fame coach who they honored on Thursday afternoon.