Chris Thomas (born 1980) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach, currently serving as an assistant coach at

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

. He has also been named coach of the

Guaynabo Mets Mets de Guaynabo is a Puerto Rican professional basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The team dissolved in 2015, but was reinstated with new ownership in 2019. The team was founded in 1935 as the ...

of the Liga de

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

(BSN). He has experience assisting for several

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 ...

teams, most notably the

Miami RedHawks The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Divis ...

, and the

Slovenia national basketball team The Slovenia men's national basketball team ( sl, Slovenska košarkarska reprezentanca) represents Slovenia in international basketball competitions, and is managed by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia. Since the independence of Slovenia in ...

Early life

Thomas was born at 5.42am on November 17, 1980, and brought up in

Kettering, Ohio Kettering is a city in Montgomery county in the U.S. state of Ohio. Almost entirely in Montgomery County, it is an inner suburb of Dayton, Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 57,862 (down slightly from 58,453 in 2010), maki ...

. He attended

Archbishop Alter High School Archbishop Alter High School, also known as Alter High School, is a Catholic high school in Kettering, Ohio, United States. It is operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati and is named after Archbishop Karl Joseph Alter. History ...

in his hometown and led the basketball team to a state title as a senior. Thomas was a member of the varsity team for two seasons.

Coaching career

While as an undergraduate at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

, Thomas worked with the college's

basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

for three years. He helped the coaching staff with player workouts and had roles such running video exchange, maintaining the video library, and writing opponent scouting reports. In 2003, Thomas joined the

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (UPJ or Pitt-Johnstown) is a state-related college in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It is a baccalaureate degree-granting regional campus of the University of Pittsburgh. The university is located in Richland T ...

, where he assumed the position of head assistant coach. While at the school, he was also the recruiting and academic coordinator. He had the additional responsibility of scouting the team's opponents. In August 2015, Thomas became a part of the coaching staff for the RedHawks of

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

. He assumed the role as administrative assistant and helped the team by overseeing film exchange, film edits, study tables, and travel arrangements. While Thomas was at Miami, the team won the Mid-American Conference tournament and appeared in the

2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball sea ...

. Following his tenure with Miami, Thomas spent time with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

, and

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

, as an

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Advance Scout. He worked with the

for two summers as an assistant coach where he worked with NBA Players Goran Dragic, Zoran Dragic, and Boki Nachbar. In September 2015, Thomas joined the

Orangeville A's The Orangeville A's were a Canadian professional basketball franchise based in Orangeville, Ontario. Founded in 2012 in Brampton, the A's were a member of the National Basketball League of Canada, where they began play for the season. History ...

of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; french: Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada) is a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketb ...

(NBL) as a head coach. In the summer of 2016, Thomas took over the Head Coaching position of the Luoyan Golden Stars in the NBL of China where he coached former NBA Champion Josh Powell and led them to the NBL Playoffs. In September 2016, Thomas joined the

Westports Malaysia Dragons Kuala Lumpur Dragons is a professional basketball team based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that currently plays in the ASEAN Basketball League. It also played as the Blustar Detergent Dragons in the Philippines' PBA Developmental League in 2016. H ...

of the

ASEAN Basketball League The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is a professional men's basketball league in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong/Macau, which includes six teams from Southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), one tea ...

as their new head coach. After resigning from the Westports Malaysia Dragons, Thomas then became the Head Coach of KK Zlatorog Lasko where he led the team to the best regular season turnaround in wins the Slovenian League for the 18-19 season. During that season, Thomas oversaw Nejc Baric obtain 1st Team All-Slovenian League honors and had Matur Maker, Cleveland "Pancake" Thomas, and Emani Gant win Player of the Week at various points of the season as well. Thomas was named the Head Coach of Bambitious Nara in the B League of Japan for the 2019-20 season where he led the team to the longest winning streak in the history of the franchise. Thomas is currently the Head Coach of the Guaynabo Mets in Puerto Rico. During the re-start of the BSN season, Thomas led the Mets to a Semifinals appearance in the playoffs and came within one game of advancing to the finals.

Head coaching record

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Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

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References

External links

LIU Sharks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Chris 1980 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Malaysia American expatriate basketball people in Slovenia American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players ASEAN Basketball League coaches Bambitious Nara coaches Dayton Flyers men's basketball coaches LIU Sharks men's basketball coaches Miami RedHawks men's basketball coaches Raptors 905 coaches University of Dayton alumni