When you think of Black college basketball coaching pioneers, John Chaney and John Thompson Jr. are among the first mentioned as memorable figures whose influence forever changed the game.
Losing both legends in the last six months is a somber moment for the sports world and for the long line of coaches who benefited from the path they paved in their sport.
Chaney, who died last Friday at 89, turned Temple into one of the college hoops powerhouses of the 1980s, 1990s and beyond. He reached his 17th NCAA tournament and fifth Elite Eight in 2001 before retiring five years later. His life and career was spent speaking up for equal and fair treatment for Black athletes and coaches.
"We lost an icon in Coach Chaney," Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing said Wednesday on Fox Sports after upsetting Creighton. "He was a man just like Coach Thompson who I looked up to, people of color looked up to. If it weren't for a man like him, a person like myself and people who have come behind me wouldn't have that opportunity."
Ewing played for Thompson and helped lead the Hoyas to back-to-back Final Fours, including the 1984 national title. Thompson, who died last August, became the first Black coach to reach the Final Four and to win an NCAA Division I basketball championship.
There was a time in the 1990s when the first three Black coaches to win NCAA titles were still on the sidelines. Thompson was still at Georgetown. Nolan Richardson was at Arkansas. Former Gophers coach Tubby Smith was at Kentucky.
Meanwhile, Clem Haskins' Gophers and Chaney's Temple teams were making NCAA tournament runs.
Smith, who has been at his alma mater High Point since 2018, is the only current Black coach with a national title on his résumé. He is one of four current Black coaches who have been to a Final Four, including Detroit Mercy's Mike Davis (Indiana), Houston's Kelvin Sampson (Oklahoma) and Texas' Shaka Smart (VCU).
