Basketball: Thompson takes over as coach at St. Joseph

EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this story was first reported, new details have emerged and can be found in a follow-up story in which Dave Turco says he is "highly disappointed" in the St. Joseph's administration's handling of the situation.

Mike Thompson, a St. Joseph (Met.) graduate who previously served as an assistant basketball coach at the high school, was introduced as the new head coach at his alma mater on Thursday during a team meeting.

Thompson succeeds New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame mentor Dave Turco, who compiled a 448-121 career record during 21 years at three Greater Middlesex Conference schools, the last 12 of which he spent developing St. Joseph into a perennial state power.

Turco, who guided St. Joseph to its only Tournament of Champions title in school history, coaching a 2013-14 squad that featured future first-round NBA Draft picks Karl-Anthony Towns and Wade Baldwin, did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment. 

School officials, citing their practice of not discussing personnel matters in public, declined to comment on Turco’s status but expressed their sincere appreciation for his service to the high school.

Thompson represents the third significant athletics department hire at St. Joseph in the past five months, during which Mike Murray succeeded Jerry Smith as athletics director and Rich Hilliard succeeded Casey Ransone as head football coach.

Thompson comes to St. Joseph with the strongest of possible endorsements, one from Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley, who developed now-defunct St. Anthony into a national power.

“He's going to go in there with a passion,” Hurley said. “I think he fits in very well at that school. He’ll keep the basketball at a level where kids are going to want to go there for an education and also the opportunity to play basketball. I think he’s an excellent choice.”

Thompson said Hurley and former East Brunswick head coach Bo Henning, a member of the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, have offered to make themselves available to assist Thompson during his transition.

As a star player on the 1981-82 St. Joseph squad that lost in the Middlesex County Tournament final to rival St. Thomas Aquinas (now Bishop Ahr), Thompson was the lone Falcon named that year to the All-Tournament team. He was a two-time team captain.

Thompson served as an assistant coach at St. Joseph from 1996-99. He left the scholastic coaching ranks to develop his own home team after his wife of 26 years, Nina, gave birth to quadruplets, all of whom are now in college. 

Thompson spent nine seasons (1988-96) as an AAU head coach, winning five state titles. He is currently a recreation director at the St. Francis Community Center in Long Branch, where he has been employed for more than a decade. Thompson has recently taught instructional classes to youth players and served as commissioner of a co-ed youth basketball league with more than 130 participants. Thompson has also served as a volunteer assistant for the St. Dominic School boys basketball team in his native Brick Township.

“He’s kept himself involved in the sport,” said Hurley, who asked Thompson to be his jayvee coach at St. Anthony and who inherited many players Thompson developed while coaching at the Jersey City Boys Club.

“Many of the young kids that grew up in the Jersey City Boys Club program Mike worked with,” Hurley said, “and a lot of those kids from the boys club over the years went to St. Anthony. He knew a lot of my kids when they were just sixth grade and up. He did a great job with them. His demeanor when he coaches, he connects with the kids and cares about kids.”

During Thompson’s tenure as an assistant at St. Joseph, Jay Williams, who went on to become a National College Player of the Year at Duke University before being selected as the No. 2 overall pick of the Chicago Bulls, put the Falcons on the statewide map.

Reacting to Thompson's hire on Twitter last night, Williams tweeted: "Beyond a vote of confidence. MT changed my life man. He laid the foundation of the mentality it takes to outwork people. Love that guy"

Williams was the first St. Joseph alum to play in the NBA since 1977 graduate Gary Witts went on to play with the Washington Bullets. The Falcons did not groom another NBA player until 2005 graduate Andrew Bynum went on to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

“We need to get moving and accepting each other as a team,” said Thompson, who inherits a squad that features just one senior. “We’re two months away, if not less. What we’re hoping for is the upperclassmen will take care of the underclassmen and they’ll start buying into where we’re headed.”

Thompson described his coaching style as one that “hinges on discipline” and “hinges on the basics.”

“We need as a school to stay with the basics that St. Joe’s has been a representative of,” said Thompson, noting he emulates Hurley. “You’ll never be like him, but you can do things that he does.”

Under Turco, St. Joseph made 10 consecutive appearances in the conference tournament finals, winning seven of the last eight league tournament titles. Turco is the only coach in conference history to win five consecutive GMCT crowns (2010-14) and is the only coach in school history to win a Non-Public A championship, claiming three such titles in succession from 2012-14. Turco won 20 or more games in each of his 12 seasons at St. Joseph.

Turco, who previously coached at Carteret and South Brunswick, has 15 division titles and a Central Group II championship on his resume. His teams have appeared in 10 sectional finals and were ranked among the Top 10 in the Star Ledger’s final statewide rankings seven times in the last decade. Turco compiled a 285-59 record at St. Joseph. Eleven of the school’s 15 players who scored more than 1,000 career points played under Turco.

After losing seven players to graduation – including Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year Tyus Battle (now at Syracuse) and Breein Tyree (now at Ole Miss) – and prospective starters Alanzo Frink and Xavier Townes to transfer, Turco turned in arguably the finest coaching performance of his distinguished career last season, leading the Falcons to a 26-2 record that included conference tournament and Red Division titles.

St. Joseph graduated three seniors from last year’s squad including Home News Tribune 2016-17 All-Area Player of the Year Letrell West and third-team All-Area selection Malachai Walker.