On Wednesday evening, the Welsh-Ryan faithful will say goodbye to Michael “Juice” Thompson. Juice is leaving under much different circumstances than many of us imagined at the start of this season (I, for one, had circled this date on my calendar as the clinching win that seals our bid for Northwestern’s first ever NCAA tournament appearance), but one fact remains: Wednesday should be his coronation. Regardless of how this season ends for Northwestern, attention must be paid to the career of this extraordinary Wildcat. It’s hard to imagine a single player in the country who means more to his team than Juice Thompson, and he’s done it for 4 years. In recognition of that fact, Wednesday’s game should be the very last played in Welsh-Ryan Arena that does not take place under the watchful gaze of Juice’s retired number 22.
Statistically, Juice is up there with the best to ever play Northwestern basketball. Starting all four years is an unreal accomplishment for any athlete in any sport, but starting all four years as a point guard is an unparalleled achievement. He holds school records in minutes played, games played (and therefore games started — Juice has never played a game at Northwestern that he didn’t start), and, of course, assists with 503. He is second all-time in 3-pointers made, fifth in steals and sixth in points. There is an argument to be made already in those numbers that he is the greatest player in Northwestern basketball history.
Amazingly enough, the individual numbers hardly do Juice justice. If the Wildcats win Wednesday, and once more in the Big Ten tournament, then this graduating class will be the first class since the late 1960s to leave Evanston with a .500 record or better. If they make the NIT, then this class will be responsible for exactly half of Northwestern’s six postseason appearances. And no disrespect to Jeff Ryan, Mike Capocci and Ivan Peljusic (serious disrespect to Kevin Coble, however) but Juice Thompson is this graduating class.
Players like Juice Thompson are indescribably rare. The combination of leadership, showmanship, and pure talent found in our senior point guard needs to be savored. Listen to the excitement in Gus Johnson’s voice when he describes Juice’s play, it borders on ecstasy. Consider some of the circus 3-pointers he has made over the years that any other player would be booed for even thinking about taking. And go take a look at the recent ESPN story on his frequent returns home to Loyola Park and tell me there isn’t a better ambassador for the program.
The pieces remain in place at Northwestern for serious basketball success in the years to come, but the team will have a huge void to fill. While in terms of Xs and Os they will work ceaselessly to replace the team’s greatest floor-general, replacing Juice’s leadership will not be so easy. The least we can do is retire his number in recognition of the fact that, when this program finally does make it to the big dance, Juice played a huge role in making it possible.