FanHouse JohnThompsonIii

College basketball has gone past the halfway point of the conference season. Now every game takes on greater importance for the teams that are trying to make the NCAA Tournament. FanHouse will take a look at the teams that find somewhere between the NCAA or NIT.

Team: Georgetown Hoyas

Record: 14-12 (5-10 Big East)

Good Wins: Maryland (neutral site), Memphis, Syracuse, at UConn

Bad Losses: At Seton Hall, Cinci, at Cinci

Comments: The Hoyas climbed to eighth in the polls in early January. They had lost only once in the non-conference schedule. They opened Big East play by beating UConn in Hartford. At that point, the Hoyas were 12-1. The question was not if they were an NCAA team, but how silly the preseason prediction of Georgetown finishing 7th in the Big East. Talk about peaking too soon.

Georgetown freshman Greg Monroe couldn't have been more of a Duke guy if he'd been born with a birthmark shaped like the Blue Devil and given the middle name Krzyzewski.

He's pocket-protector smart, graduating with a 3.75 GPA from Louisiana's Helen Cox High School, so composed you could yell fire in a theater and he'd tell you to get of the way of the Paul Blart trailer, and grew up among that percentage of the population dwindling faster than an analog television set, those who like Duke basketball.

Heck, the guy probably helps old ladies to their seat during television breaks.

This week, FanHouse is taking a look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.

Today, we have enlisted me, The Sportz Assassin, of FanHouse and SportzAssassin.com, to break down the Davidson Wildcats.

We all remember last season. Davidson began the season taking on top programs like North Carolina, UCLA and Duke, rolling through the Southern Conference schedule and then getting to the Elite Eight. Along the way, the Wildcats popped Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin and nearly beat eventual champion Kansas.

Stephen Curry became a superstar. Head coach Bob McKillop was finally getting his national recognition. The little school just outside of Charlotte is now big time.

In a town like Washington D.C., where there are leaks and rumors everywhere, how can there still be no new information as to Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III and a new contract? Six weeks ago, I was stunned that Georgetown had not gotten a new extension done with JTIII. Surprisingly there is still no new extension.

In three years under John Thompson III, the Hoyas have gone from battling George Washington to be the 2nd best team in the DC area to the Sweet 16 and the Final Four. Thompson's name is being suggested for pro gigs and Big John may be encouraging rumors that Thompson would go to other jobs. Still JTIII continues to work under his original contract.

It is now 10 weeks after the Hoyas' trip to the Final Four and there is still no contract.

And by "love," I mean "money."

In his first 3 years of taking over a Georgetown program that had fallen hard and fast, John Thompson III took the Hoyas to the Sweet 16 last year and this year won the Big East Tournament and got to the Final Four. He has an excellent incoming recruiting class that includes two McDonald's All-Americans in Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. He was named coach of the Year by the National College Basketball Hall of Fame. Georgetown is back in the national scene. So, how come the Hoyas aren't paying him?

Thompson, who has two years left on his current deal, is paid $456,000 a season -- 11th among the Big East's 16 coaches and half as much as any other coach who has won a league title, much less made a Final Four appearance.

"I'm working on it," Georgetown president Jack DeGioia said quickly before exiting from further questioning after the team's annual awards dinner Wednesday night -- when a new contract was expected to be announced.

But time to work on it could be running out.

Asked whether it was safe to assume he would be back next season, Thompson responded with a somewhat shocking lack of certainty: "Next question."

Last month the rumors started that John Thompson could be considering the NBA. His name keeps popping up among college coaches who could be enticed and/or possibly succeed at the NBA level.

Meanwhile, Rick Pitino is once again extended by Louisville. Even Mike Brey at Notre Dame gets yet another extension and raise just for finally making the NCAA Tournament after a 4 year gap. Brey has job security up until after the 2012-13 season, while Thompson is being paid on the cheap for only a couple more seasons.

It seems stupid that Georgetown is not in any rush to lock up the coach that once more made them relevant nationally. Really, they are playing a dumb game. If they piss off Thompson III to the point that he would leave, how do they think Big John will react? Not just that, Thompson's top two assistants are gone to head coaching jobs of their own. There is no obvious next choice.

Previously at Fanhouse:
Father Floating Rumors that John Thompson III Could Leave?
Could John Thompson Leave Georgetown For the NBA?
Could Rick Pitino Really Stay Put for Six More Years?