JOHN THOMPSON III

Dawn Staley says she doesn’t feel any added pressure being the first Black head coach of the U.S. women’s basketball Olympic team.

Jared Butler scored 17 points to lead five Baylor players in double figures, and the Bears roared to a 78-59 victory over Houston in the Final Four.

Georgetown is the Big East champion again, with the greatest Hoya of them all leading the way. Now he is the first person in Big East history to be the most outstanding player on a Big East Tournament champion and coach a team to a Big East Tournament title. 8 seed to win the Big East Tournament and the lowest seed since Connecticut did it as a No. That seems unlikely for these Hoyas, who entered the Big East Tournament with a losing record. UP NEXTThe Hoyas likely give the Big East four teams in the NCAA Tournament along with Creighton, Villanova and UConn.

Not long after came a seismic jolt, the helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant in the fog-shrouded California hills that reverberated across sports and across continents. Deep into the year, a bookend to Bryant, Diego Maradona died from a heart attack in Argentina weeks after brain surgery, the waves of grief rippling across soccer. The losses, of course, came against a backdrop of a pandemic, its number of fatalities rolled out daily on TV screens. Niekro won 318 games and pitched until he was 48, his knuckleball dancing and mystifying batters across the decades. Kurt Thomas in 1978 became the first U.S. male gymnast to win a world title but lost an Olympic shot in 1980 because of the boycott.

The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.

FILE - In this March 9, 1985, file photo, Georgetown NCAA college basketball head coach John Thompson poses with player Patrick Ewing after Georgetown defeated Houston in the NCAA college basketball championship game, in Seattle. John Thompson, the imposing Hall of Famer who turned Georgetown into a Hoya Paranoia powerhouse and became the first Black coach to lead a team to the NCAA mens basketball championship, has died. He was 78 His death was announced in a family statement Monday., Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/File)WASHINGTON John Thompson, the imposing Hall of Famer who turned Georgetown into a Hoya Paranoia powerhouse and became the first Black coach to lead a team to the NCAA mens basketball championship, has died. One of his sons, John Thompson III, was hired as Georgetowns coach in 2004.

FILE - In this April 2, 1984, file photo, Georgetown head coach John Thompson, left, gives a happy pat to the most valuable player Patrick Ewing, after Georgetown defeated Houston 84-75 in Seattle. He was a great coach but an even better person and his legacy is everlasting. Patrick Ewing, former Georgetown star and current coach. Coach Thompson, saved my life ... continuously motivating and molding me into the man that I am today. former Georgetown star Alonzo Mourning. He was a great coach, but he was also a role model for a lot of coaches white coaches and Black coaches. ___Last night, we lost a towering figure in coach John Thompson, whose shoulders many of us stand on.

FILE - In this Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, file photo, Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing yells to his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Villanova, in Philadelphia. In a statement issued by Georgetown on Friday, May 22, 2020, Ewing has tested positive for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)WASHINGTON Georgetown basketball coach Patrick Ewing tested positive for COVID-19 and is being treated at a hospital. As a player, the 7-foot Ewing helped Georgetown win the 1984 NCAA mens basketball championship and reach two other title games. ___More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25