Every chapter will bring back a lot of great basketball memories from Thompson’s coaching days along with his playing career, his family ties, the people who inspired him and others. Washington pens a brilliant note as the co-author. Thompson follows with a strong introduction.

In I Came as a Shadow, Thompson — who was long wary of revealing too much about himself and yet was continually frustrated about being misunderstood — finally gets to cast his legend on his own terms, in all of its contradictions.

John Thompson, who dominated the Georgetown University basketball scene for 27 years, held little back on the court and off. So it’s not surprising that his autobiography, I Came as a Shadow, is brutally honest and unsparing both to many in Thompson’s life and to Georgetown.

... a 352-page opus on a man with few regrets — and lamenting little.

... an unusually good sports memoir.

A readable sports memoir; more importantly, a strong contribution to the ongoing discussion on race and racism..