Paul Thomas

Paul Bernard Thomas (born October 28, 1962)

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. He completed his bachelor's degree in 1986 and master's degree in physical education in 1988.

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.

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.

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. Only by his fourth season did Thomas achieve a winning record at Saint Mary's at 21–10. In 2010–11, the Gaels finished second in the WCC tournament behind Gonzaga. The 2012–13 Gaels won 23 games and advanced to the 2013 WNIT quarterfinals, the furthest in the WNIT under Thomas.

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. When he coached at Cal Poly Pomona, he and his family lived in the Phillips Ranch community of Pomona. startyear=1988 conference=Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference endyear=1990