Hobart athletics photo |
Stefan Thompson, who was an All-American guard and assistant coach at Hobart, will be the Statesmen's next head men's basketball coach.
The College's Interim Director of Athletics Brian Miller announced the hire on June 5.
"I have always respected and admired Stef's ability as a leader," Miller said in the release. ""I witnessed it first-hand throughout his outstanding career as a Hobart student-athlete, and later when he returned as an assistant coach. As we progressed through our exhaustive search, it became clear that Coach Thompson's energy, passion and vision for the future of Hobart basketball was aligned exactly with the qualities we were looking for in a head coach."
Thompson was part of a senior class that went 82-31 over four seasons from 2010 through 2013. Hobart reached the NCAA Tournaments under head coach Mike Neer in Thompson's junior and senior seasons and advanced to the second round in 2012. Thompson was named D3hoops All-American and Liberty League player of the year as a senior. Thompson was also the Conference and East Region Rookie of the Year in 2010.
After graduating from Hobart, Thompson joined former Hobart head coach Izzi Metz's staff at Wilkes. Thompson earned his master's degree in Education from Wilkes in 2016. He then returned to Hobart where he was an assistant under Tim Sweeney the past two seasons. Sweeney left Hobart in May to take the top men's basketball job at Connecticut College.
"I'm extremely excited for the opportunity to lead the Hobart basketball program," Thompson said in the release. "I'm thankful for Coach Sweeney bringing me back to Hobart as an assistant coach. I'm also grateful for everything Izzi Metz and Mike Neer taught me as both a coach and player."
Hobart went 17-11, 12-6 in the Liberty League and lost to Skidmore in the conference title game last season.