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 (appro ...

coachwho last served as the head coach at

Cibona Zagreb Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball sports club, club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the ABA League JTD, Adriatic Basketba ...

in the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

. He has also been named coach of the Guaynabo Mets 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 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 ...

teams, most notably the

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

, and the

Slovenia national basketball team The Slovenia men's national basketball team () represents Slovenia in international basketball competitions, and is managed by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia. Since the independence of Slovenia in 1991, the national team has competed at ...

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, Ohio, United States. It is an inner suburb of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton. The city had a population of 57,862 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous suburb in the Dayton metr ...

. He attended Archbishop Alter High School 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 university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

, 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

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, 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 university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

. 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 that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2006-07 ...

. 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 Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

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 Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

, 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 Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

, as an

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

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 of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; ) was a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketball League teams joined with four new franchis ...

(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 of the ASEAN Basketball League 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 agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

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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 KK Cibona coaches