Bio

Deon Thomas enters his second season at the Roosevelt women's basketball coach in 2023-24 after returning to Chicago prior to the 2022-23 season. 

Thomas was an assistant coach with the Lakers during the 2019-20 season before making his way around the country with his coaching career. Prior to joining the Lakers, Thomas was the Director of Player Development at the University of Missouri, and was 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, community and alumni engagement and assisting the coaching staff with the day-to-day activities of the program. 

A native of the Chicago area, Thomas began coaching at the collegiate level in 2017 at Benedictine (Ill.) University. In his two years as an assistant coach, Thomas helped the Eagles to back-to-back conference runner-up finishes and a school record 21 victories in 2018-19. Thomas joined Roosevelt as an assistant coach in 2019, and was recognized for his work at this time, earning Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Thirty under 30 honors. 

He then moved to Arizona, serving for one season as interim head coach of the Ottawa (Ariz.) University women's basketball team in 2020-21, before heading to Saint Louis University, where he worked with the Billikens perimeter players and was responsible for scouting, recruiting and as the liaison with members of the support staff. Thomas coached two All-Atlantic-10 Conference student-athletes, including the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year. 

Thomas is a graduate of Judson University, where he earned a degree in exercise sports science with a concentration in sports management. He also attained his Master of Business Administration degree from American Intercontinental University.

Thomas and his wife, Emily, have two young sons, Avonte and Melo.