WBB: Deon Thomas Named Director of Player Development

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Deon Thomas has joined the University of Missouri women’s basketball staff as director of player development, Head Coach Robin Pingeton announced.

Thomas, named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s prestigious Thirty Under 30 group during the 2019-20 season, comes to Columbia after spending the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach at Saint Louis University. 

He will be heavily involved in several facets of the program, including player development along with managing all scouting video and analytics, serving as the camps director, assisting in on-campus recruiting efforts, managing the Tigers squad of male practice players, game planning, community and alumni engagement and assisting the coaching staff with the day-to-day activities of the program.

“Deon is filling a critical role in our program and it’s an honor to welcome him to our staff,” Pingeton said. “He has a great deal of experience at all levels of basketball and his Thirty Under 30 recognition from the WBCA speaks for itself. We are really looking forward to seeing him excel in this role and help us keep building our program to a championship level.”

“I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity to work with Coach Pingeton and the rest of the Tigers staff,” Thomas said. “I have been welcomed with open arms by the student-athletes, staff and administration. The family atmosphere around the program is extremely evident and it’s truly exciting to be a part of the Mizzou community!”

While at SLU, Thomas worked with the Billikens perimeter players and was responsible for scouting, recruiting and serving as a liaison with members of the support staff. 

Thomas served as interim head coach of the Ottawa (Ariz.) University women’s basketball team in 2020-21. He was an assistant coach at Chicago’s Roosevelt University in 2019-20, where he earned his WBCA Thirty Under 30 honor.

He started his collegiate coaching career at Benedictine (Ill.) University, where he was an assistant coach from 2017-19. He helped guide the Eagles to a conference runner-up finish both seasons, the team’s first-ever region ranking and conference tournament semifinals appearance, and a program-record 21 victories in the 2018-19 campaign. He spent two years in the Chicago prep coaching ranks and has been a head coach of both girls’ and boys’ AAU teams.

Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise sports science with a concentration in sports administration at Judson (Ill.) University and an MBA with a concentration in human resources at American InterContinental University.

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