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CRIMSON SHIELD
THE ONLINE MAGAZINE OF BROTHER MARTIN HIGH SCHOOL |
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| December 2010 |
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Meet the Basketball Coach
Head Basketball Coach Scott Thompson
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Scott Thompson grew up in New Orleans East and attended Lake Castle school. Competing in several sports in the competitive interracial atmosphere on the neighborhood playgrounds prepared him for the athletic and academic challenges of high school.
- Scott played football (slot receiver, defensive back), basketball, and baseball (outfielder) at Jesuit through his junior year.
- He decided to concentrate on basketball as a senior (1991-2) and to continue with track (high jump and long jump), which he had started as a junior.
- He praises his high school coaches in all sports for being tremendous men and educators who brought out the best in him. He imbibed the traditions not only of Jesuit but also of the Catholic league.
Thompson really hadn't thought about playing college basketball until contacted by Coach Jerry Hernandez of Loyola. Scott played four years on the hardwood for the Wolfpack.
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He did not go into coaching right out of college.
- He spent a year working on various jobs while taking classes toward a master's degree.
- He worked in construction, doing hard physical labor, which he enjoys.
Jesuit hired Thompson for 1997-8.
- He taught science and coached the 8th grade basketball team. He also tutored the jumpers in track. Another member of the basketball staff was John Lavie.
- The next two years, Scott coached 9th grade basketball, all the while learning the coaching craft from some of the same men who had mentored him as a player, especially head basketball coach Chris Jennings.
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Thompson took a year off to complete his master's degree at Loyola in secondary education with a concentration in curriculum and instruction.
- Brother Martin hired him for 2001-2 to teach math and geography and assist second-year head coach John Lavie in basketball.
- Scott was a varsity assistant on the 2002-3 team that, led by D. J. Augustine, finished second in state and the succeeding two teams that won the 5A championship.
Then an angry lady named Katrina turned everyone's lives upside down.
- Shortly after the storm, Scott got a chance to do the physical labor he enjoys when he was hired along with many other faculty members to help clean up the campus to get the school ready for the second semester.
- When Lavie decided not to return to Elysian Fields, Scott was promoted to head coach.
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The shortened 2005-6 season challenged everyone. What a way to start your head coaching career!
- "We were able to get some of the players back together. We went 10-15 that first year. The kids worked their tails off. Guys got a chance to play who hadn't played since they were kids or maybe had never played before. We won some tough games and squeaked into the playoffs."
- With St. Augustine not resuming operation until the 2006-7 year, the district consisted of only four teams: Brother Martin, Holy Cross, Jesuit, and Rummel. And two of those, Holy Cross and Jesuit, had no gyms to play in. So Catholic League fans experienced weird occurrences such as the Blue Jays celebrating their homecoming not at a football game but at their home game against the Crusaders in the Conlin Gym.
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Coach Thompson embraces Patrick Swilling after the state championship victory
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Scott is proud to carry on one of the top traditions in the state: Crusader basketball.
- His coaching philosophy is straightforward but relentless. "Every day, you work to make sure the players are getting better as young men, in the classroom, socially, and physically. You have to believe in the kids and keep forming them."
- When asked if last year's state championship surprised him, he returns to the same theme. "You look at the overall program, look at progress, getting better over a period of time. The days add up over weeks and months and culminated in the spring in a strong playoff run. It was nice to be recognized, but it was part of a continuum that goes back to Coach Lavie, to Coach Dotson, Coach Rohm, Coach Vitrano, Coach Russo, Coach Johnny Altobello."
- Will the team have a "state championship hangover" in 2010-11? "In this broad continuum, we're rolling on, doing the things we need to do on a daily basis to improve and be successful, stressing defense, rebounding, and physical play. And conditioning is of utmost importance. This is Brother Martin basketball. That's never going to change. It hasn't changed since Brother Ralph coached [in the 1940s]. The student-athletes must buy in to what we stress – discipline, accountability, responsibility, toughness. There's no room for distraction. That's the world we live in today. Groups of individuals in a team effort that can collectively stay focused on what they need to do to be successful are going to be."
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As if to illustrate their coach's points, the 2010-11 Crusaders opened their season November 29 by defeating Slidell 59-52 after trailing by 15 entering the fourth quarter.
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