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

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

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 university, public research university in Catonsville, Maryland named after Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County. It had a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 un ...

(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: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

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

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, where he was named to the MEAC 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. 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. 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 America East Conference (AmEast) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference is headquartered in Boston, Massachu ...

. 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