Calvin Thompson (born June 27, 1964) is an American basketball coach and a member of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

' 1986 Final Four team. He holds Kansas' record for most consecutive free throws made at 33 in 1983–84, made second-team All-Big Eight in 1983 and 1984, and the All-Big Eight Tournament team 1983 and 1984. He was also a member of the 1986 All-NCAA Midwest Regional team.

Playing career

On June 17, 1986, the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

selected Thompson in Round 4 with Pick 1 in the

1986 NBA draft The 1986 NBA draft was held on June 17, 1986. Overview and aftermath This draft holds the record for the most players (out of prospects chosen) who later debuted in the NBA, with 66. Drug and health issues involving drafted players There were ...

. Calvin played two seasons in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) after brief stints in camp with the Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and the San Antonio Spurs. After spending time in camp with the Spurs he was offered a contract by the Houston Rockets and Lyon out of France. He chose to venture to France where he played professionally for two years, then another five years in Israel. Thompson finished his college career tied for first for games started and games played in a season, third in minutes played, fourth in scoring, fifth in assists, seventh in steals, 13th in blocks, and 19th in rebounds in Kansas Jayhawk history. During his first CBA season where he averaged 21 ppg, and 5 rebounds per game, he was named CBA Rookie Runner-Up Of The Year and he was the first rookie to be named to the CBA's All Star Game. In May 1987 (CBA off-season) participated with Formula Shell in the Philippines. He averaged 42 points and 8 rebounds per game.

Coaching career

Thompson coached the Kansas City Mustangs of the

Women's Basketball Association The Women's Basketball Association (WBA or WWBA) was the first women's professional basketball summer league, operating from 1992 to 1995. The league was called the WWBA and WBA for the first All-Star tour in 1992, before settling on WBA. The pion ...

professional league in 1995. After retiring, he founded Hoop Service Bulldogs (now the Junior Sizzlers), which play under the ThreeFive, Inc. umbrella, a not-for-profit entity based out of Kansas City for both boys and girls grade 3–11. In 2018, he was the coach of the Kansas City Tornados professional team in the North American Premier Basketball. In June 2018, Thompson purchased the rights of the Topeka Sizzlers of the semi-pro league American Basketball Association (ABA). He will service as both the Head Coach and General Manager of the team. Prior to the Covid pandemic, the Sizzlers were relocated to the Kansas City area and now play independently as the KC Sizzlers (www.kcsizzlers.org).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Calvin 1964 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players Kansas City Tornadoes coaches Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players The Basketball League coaches Philippine Basketball Association imports Shell Turbo Chargers players Basketball players from Kansas City, Missouri Topeka Sizzlers players 20th-century American sportsmen