Paul Thomas
Thomas in 2016 at San Jose State.
Biographical details
Born (1962-10-28) October 28, 1962
Creighton, Nebraska
Alma materWayne State College
Playing career
1981–1983Midland Lutheran
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1984–1985Pender HS (asst.)
1985–1988Wayne State (NE) (asst.)
1988–1990Hamline
1990–1994Cal Poly Pomona (asst.)
1994–2006Cal Poly Pomona
2006–2023Saint Mary's
Head coaching record
Overall536–375 (.588)
Tournaments
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards
  • WCC Coach of the Year (2015)

Paul Bernard Thomas (born October 28, 1962)[1] is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the women's basketball head coach at Saint Mary's College of California. He previously served as head coach at Hamline and Cal Poly Pomona.

Originally from Creighton, Nebraska, Thomas graduated from Wayne State College in Nebraska and began his coaching career in 1985 as an assistant coach at Wayne State College and a local high school. Thomas had his first head coaching position from 1988 to 1990 at Hamline, a largely unsuccessful stint with only one win in two seasons. He moved to California to be an assistant coach at Cal Poly Pomona for four years before being promoted to head coach, a position he held from 1994 to 2006. Thomas was far more successful at Cal Poly Pomona, leading the Broncos to two NCAA Division II national titles in 2001 and 2002 and five California Collegiate Athletic Association titles.

From 2006 to 2022, Thomas was head coach at Saint Mary's, his first Division I coaching position. Thomas has over 250 wins at Saint Mary's in his first 14 seasons along with 10 consecutive appearances in the Women's National Invitation Tournament from 2010 to 2019.

Early life

Thomas began playing basketball in Creighton, Nebraska. He would attend Creighton High School, where he played forward. While at Creighton, Thomas was made an all-state forward and named the 1981 Bulldogs Most Valuable Player.[2]

After high school, Thomas would spend the next two years at Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska, then retired from basketball and transferred to Wayne State College to complete his education and pursue a coaching career.[3] He completed his bachelor's degree in 1986 and master's degree in physical education in 1988.[2]

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1984–1994)

As a student at Wayne State, Thomas began his coaching career in 1984 as an assistant coach for the Pender High School girls' team before serving as an assistant coach for the Wayne State women's basketball team from 1985 to 1988.[2][4]

In 1988, Thomas entered his first head coaching position at Hamline University, an NCAA Division III school in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Hamline went 1–24 in his first season (1–19 MIAC) and 0–25 (0–20 MIAC) in 1989–90.[5]

Thomas became an assistant coach again in 1990 at Cal Poly Pomona, where he would work for the next 16 years. From 1990 to 1994, Thomas was an assistant coach under head coach Darlene May.[6][2] During that time, Cal Poly Pomona won three California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) tournament titles from 1991 to 1993 and four regular season titles from 1991 to 1994.[7][8]

Cal Poly Pomona (1994–2006)

After the passing of May, Thomas was promoted to head coach of Cal Poly Pomona in 1994. Over the next 12 years, Thomas would compile a 235–108 record. Thomas would lead the Broncos to five additional CCAA championships and back-to-back Division II national championships (2001 and 2002). He would reach the Division II NCAA Tournament eight out of the 12 seasons with a 14–6 postseason record. He recruited and coached two National Players of the Year, six First Team Kodak All-Americans, four CCAA Players of the Year and 15 First Team All-Conference players all while winning the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year and NCAA District 8 Coach of the Year in 2002.[2]

Saint Mary's (2006–2023)

After 12 seasons at Cal Poly Pomona, Thomas resigned in August 2006 to become the eighth women's head coach at Division I Saint Mary's,a member of the West Coast Conference (WCC).[6] Only by his fourth season did Thomas achieve a winning record at Saint Mary's at 21–10.[9] That season was the start of 10 consecutive winning seasons with Women's National Invitation Tournament appearances from 2010 to 2019.[10] In 2010–11, the Gaels finished second in the WCC tournament behind Gonzaga.[11] The 2012–13 Gaels won 23 games and advanced to the 2013 WNIT quarterfinals, the furthest in the WNIT under Thomas.[10]

In 2015, after a third-place finish in the WCC, Thomas was selected as one of three WCC co-of the year, along with Pacific coach Lynne Roberts and Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier.[12][13] The 2014–15 Gaels again finished the season with 23 wins and made the WNIT quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons.[10] Thomas followed that season with a new career best 24 wins at Saint Mary's in 2015–16.[13]

However, following the 2019 Women's National Invitation Tournament, Saint Mary's had two consecutive losing seasons, finishing the 2019–20 season 12–19. In 2020–21, Saint Mary's was 7–19.[9] As of his 15th season in 2020–21, Thomas has a 275–198 cumulative record at Saint Mary's.[9]

Following a 7–4 start to the 2022–23 season, Saint Mary's suspended Thomas in late December 2022 pending the results of an internal investigation and announced on January 30, 2023 that Thomas would no longer be head coach; assistant coach Allyson Fasnacht became interim head coach immediately.[14][9]

Personal life

Thomas resides in Concord, California with his wife and their four children.[13] When he coached at Cal Poly Pomona, he and his family lived in the Phillips Ranch community of Pomona.[3] They previously lived in Orinda when Thomas first got the job at Saint Mary's.[2]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Hamline Pipers[15] (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1988–1990)
1988–89 Hamline 1–241–1911th
1989–90 Hamline 0–260–2011th
Hamline: 1–50 (.020)1–39 (.025)
Cal Poly Pomona Broncos[16][17] (California Collegiate Athletic Association) (1994–2006)
1994–95 Cal Poly Pomona 10–153–76th
1995–96 Cal Poly Pomona 14–136–4T–3rd
1996–97 Cal Poly Pomona 22–88–21stNCAA Division II Second Round
1997–98 Cal Poly Pomona 18–118–21stNCAA Division II First Round
1998–99 Cal Poly Pomona 23–616–43rdNCAA Division II Second Round
1999–2000 Cal Poly Pomona 26–319–11stNCAA Division II Second Round
2000–01 Cal Poly Pomona 27–320–21stNCAA Division II Champions
2001–02 Cal Poly Pomona 28–419–31stNCAA Division II Champions
2002–03 Cal Poly Pomona 13–1411–116th
2003–04 Cal Poly Pomona 23–717–52ndNCAA Division II Third Round
2004–05 Cal Poly Pomona 20–815–5T–2ndNCAA Division II First Round
2005–06 Cal Poly Pomona 11–168–127thNCAA Division II First Round
Cal Poly Pomona: 235–108 (.685)150–58 (.721)
Saint Mary's Gaels (West Coast Conference) (2006–2023)
2006–07 Saint Mary's 14–148–74th
2007–08 Saint Mary's 15–176–85th
2008–09 Saint Mary's 11–197–7T–4th
2009–10 Saint Mary's 21–1012–22ndWNIT first round
2010–11 Saint Mary's 19–1310–42ndWNIT first round
2011–12 Saint Mary's 22–1111–54thWNIT second round
2012–13 Saint Mary's 23–1111–5T–3rdWNIT Quarterfinals
2013–14 Saint Mary's 23–1011–7T–4thWNIT second round
2014–15 Saint Mary's 23–1113–5T–3rdWNIT Quarterfinals
2015–16 Saint Mary's 24–814–42ndWNIT first round
2016–17 Saint Mary's 20–1313–53rdWNIT first round
2017–18 Saint Mary's 20–1113–52ndWNIT first round
2018–19 Saint Mary's 21–1212–6T–3rdWNIT second round
2019–20 Saint Mary's 12–196–127th
2020–21 Saint Mary's 7–194–14T–8th
2021–22 Saint Mary's 18–159–95thWBI champions
2022–23 Saint Mary's 7–4(fired)
Saint Mary's: 300–217 (.580)147–100 (.595)
Total:536–375 (.588)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ↑ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 25 Sep 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Paul Thomas Named Head Women's Basketball Coach at Saint Mary's College". WCC. August 9, 2006. Archived from the original on February 20, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Paul Thomas". Cal Poly Pomona. Archived from the original on June 26, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ Warren, Biff; Marshall, Don (March 22, 2016). "Paul Thomas – From Creighton High To The NCAA". The Creighton News. Retrieved January 16, 2021. After serving as an assistant coach for the Pender High School girls' basketball team, Thomas became an assistant women's basketball coach at Wayne State...
  5. ↑ "Women's Basketball - Midkota and MIAC Races 1974- present". Concordia College Minnesota. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Starks, Jennifer (August 10, 2006). "St. Mary's lures Thomas away from Pomona". Contra Costa Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2006. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Women's Basketball Tournament History". California Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Champions - Winter Sports". CCAA. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "NCAA Statistics".
  10. 1 2 3 Saint Mary's Women's Basketball Record Book (PDF). Saint Mary's College of California. pp. 12, 21–23. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Women Zags Zap Saint Mary's 72-46, Advance to Big Dance with First Game at McCarthey". Gonzaga. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  12. ↑ "BYU's Morgan Bailey named Player of the Year; Lisa Fortier (Gonzaga), Lynne Roberts (Pacific) & Paul Thomas (Saint Mary's) share Coach of the Year honors". wccsports.com. 2015-03-03. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  13. 1 2 3 "Paul Thomas". Saint Mary's College of California. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  14. ↑ Pashelka, Curtis (January 30, 2023). "Saint Mary's severs ties with women's basketball coach after investigation". East Bay Times. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  15. ↑ "MIAC Women's Basketball Recordbook". Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  16. ↑ "CCAA Yearly Standings" (PDF). California Collegiate Athletic Association. 2014. pp. 4–5. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  17. ↑ Broncos Basketball Record Book 2015-16 (PDF). Cal Poly Pomona. 2015. p. 8. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
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