Men's College Basketball
Rider Retired Thompson Number
The Rider University men's basketball program retired the uniform number of Jason Thompson '08 on Sunday, January 4, prior to the 3pm home basketball game with Marist College.
Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey said “Jason has made a tremendous impact not only on our basketball program, but on the university as a whole.”
Thompson, the 12th player picked in the NBA draft and current member of the Sacramento Kings, was in town to play the New Jersey Nets and attended the Rider-Marist game for the ceremony. As of December 22, Thompson was averaging 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, playing an average of 24.5 minutes per game for the Kings.
The contest with Marist is part of Rider's youth month and kids 17 & under receive free admission to both the women's game at 1pm and the men's game at 3pm. The 2007-08 Rider Athlete of the Year, Thompson will be on hand after the men's game to sign autographs.
“To have him back in the Broncs' Zoo for our game against Marist was exciting,” Dempsey said. “It was a great day and everybody came out to the game to thank him for all of his hard work and accomplishments.”
Thompson graduated last year with 2,040 points, third highest ever at Rider, along with a Rider-record 1,171 rebounds and 232 blocked shots. He also set single season Rider records for points (694), rebounds (412) and field goals (275) while earning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Metropolitan Basketball Writers' Association Player of the Year honors.
In his NBA debut with the Sacramento Kings, Thompson came in off the bench and compiled 18 points, making seven of 10 shots from the field and all four of his foul shots, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked a shot in 22 minutes of action. Thompson became the Kings' first player to post a ?double-double' in his NBA debut since Jerry Lucas tallied 23 points and 17 rebounds in 1963.
Originally from Mt. Laurel, Thompson made his NBA homecoming November 2 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia and did not disappoint the hundreds of Rider fans and South Jersey residents who came out to root him on.
Playing in just his fourth professional game, Thompson compiled a team-high 17 points against the Sixers, making eight of 12 shots from the field, six rebounds and a team-high five assists in 30 minutes off the bench.
The Wachovia Center erupted with seven minutes left in the first quarter when JT stood up off the visiting team bench to go into the game. Chants of “Ja-son Thomp-son” that echoed through Alumni Gym over the last four years were now being heard in South Philly.
Thompson's number one jersey becomes just the fifth uniform number to be retired at Rider. The other five, all Rider Athletics Hall of Famers, include Kelly Hall (field hockey/softball), Coach Tom Petroff (baseball), Coach Sonny Pittaro (baseball), Bobby Smith (soccer) and Darrick Suber (basketball).
-ru-
