Aki Thomas (born May 14, 1979) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

(UMBC) from 2012 to 2016. He replaced Randy Monroe, who resigned just two days before the start of the 2012–13 season.

Biography

Playing career

Thomas played three seasons at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

, where he was a part of two NIT squads for the Buffaloes. For his final season of eligibility, Thomas transferred to Howard University, where he was named to the

MEAC The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

Second Team All-Conference after averaging 12 points per game along with 8 rebounds a contest, helping the Bison to an 18–13 record. After graduation, Thomas spent two years playing professionally in Venezuela.

Coaching career

After playing pro ball, Thomas joined the coaching staff at Howard in 2004 under

Frankie Allen Frankie Allen (born April 7, 1949) is an American men's college basketball coach who most recently coached at Maryland Eastern Shore. He was also the head coach at Virginia Tech, and Howard, as well as an assistant at and UMBC. His greatest su ...

. In 2007, he joined the staff at UMBC, where he was a part of the Retrievers' 2008 America East Championship season and appearance in the

2008 NCAA tournament The 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball ...

. Just two days before the 2012–13 season, Thomas was named the acting head coach of UMBC after Randy Monroe was relieved of his duties. Thomas led the Retrievers to a 7–22 record and 8th-place finish in the America East Conference. The seven wins were the most for the program since the 2008–09 season. On March 4, 2013, the interim title was removed and Thomas was named the permanent head coach. After four seasons and a 29–95 record, Thomas was fired by UMBC.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Aki 1979 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York City College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball players Howard Bison men's basketball coaches Howard Bison men's basketball players UMBC Retrievers men's basketball coaches