After being introduced as the men's basketball coach at Ball State University on Tuesday, Ronny Thompson made it clear what his plans are for the future of Cardinal basketball.
"I want to win, and I want to win big," said Thompson, who signed a five-year contract that will pay an annual salary of $175,000 plus incentives. "It seems as though some people have forgotten what Ball State is all about. One of my main goals is to try to remind people what we are all about and how special this basketball program can be."
With his father, Hall of Fame Georgetown coach John Thompson, in attendance for the announcement, Ronny Thompson laid out his intentions for a basketball program looking to compete once again for a Mid-American Conference title.
Ball State finished the 2006-07 season with a 10-18 record, its worst in nearly 20 years and was ousted in the first round of the MAC Tournament for the third time in four seasons. Ball State President Jo Ann Gora said she expects the Cardinals to be at the top of the conference each year and Thompson said he wants the same thing.
"I expect to be at the top of MAC each year, but it takes time," Thompson said. "We're inheriting a team that's won 10 games so it's going to take time, but we're going to work tirelessly to do it."
Thompson said he has been talking with Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins for nearly a month about the position vacated by the reassignment of six-year coach Tim Buckley.
Thompson, who has been an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas for the past three years, said the decision to come to Ball State was based on his conversations with Collins.
Collins said he did face-to-face interviews with five coaches and had serious conversations with eight coaches over the course of three weeks.
Collins said no matter who he talked to about the coaching vacancy, one name always came up in conversation.
"I kept going through and reviewing names and [Thompson's] name kept coming up," Collins said. "We met him face-to-face and he was a very infectious person. I think he's just somebody who can fit into the Ball State community."
One of Thompson's first duties as coach will be finding a staff of assistant coaches. Thompson said he doesn't have a timetable on the search but he has several people in mind for the jobs.
Thompson has grown up around the basketball court. He played for his father at Georgetown from 1989-92 and has been an assistant coach for three other programs before landing his first head coaching position at Ball State.
Thompson said the success of a mid-major program such as George Mason gives hope to a lot schools, such as Ball State. George Mason, an 11th seed in the NCAA Tournament, reached the Final Four this season before losing to eventual-champion Florida.
"A school like George Mason puts that into perspective for a lot of so-called mid-majors," Thompson said. "They have given mid-majors the hope that this really is attainable. It makes it a lot more attainable in the eyes of a lot of people."
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