Scott Thompson
Scott Thompson
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The 2021-22 season is Scott Thompson’s sixth as an assistant coach on Steve Henson's staff at UTSA. Thompson is UTSA's recruiting coordinator and post player development coach.
 
The Roadrunners finished Thompson’s fifth year in San Antonio in 2020-21 by winning 10 of their final 13 games, while completing two of the most decorated careers in NCAA history in guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. The pair combined to become the second-highest scoring duo of any pair from the same recruiting class in collegiate basketball history. Jackson, the only three-time scoring champ in league history, completed his career ranked No. 52 all-time in NCAA history in scoring, with Wallace checking in No. 452, with the pair ranking No. 1 and No. 2 in UTSA history. 
 
Thompson's impact on the 2019-20 Roadrunners was seen directly in the performance of one of the nation's best backcourts, Jackson and Wallace. Jackson averaged a Conference USA and UTSA record 26.9 points per game, while shattering the school marks for career and single season scoring. Wallace shined as a do-everything weapon for the Roadrunners, averaging 18.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Senior forward Byron Frohnen etched his name throughout the record book as well during the year, breaking the UTSA records for career rebounds, starts and games played. 
 
A native of Rienzi, Miss., Thompson helped direct the Roadrunners to a stellar 2018-19 season. The Roadrunners earned a second-place finish in Conference USA, while posting their best league tournament seed in 14 years. UTSA was buoyed by the scoring punch of its sophomore guards, Jackson and Wallace, the nation’s top scoring backcourt. 
 
As the post-player development coach for the 2018-19 Roadrunners, Thompson worked directly with senior forward Nick Allen, junior forward Byron Frohnen, redshirt freshman Adrian Rodriguez and junior forward Atem Bior. Allen averaged 9.0 points and 5.1 rebounds while setting the UTSA career games record, with his ability to stretch the floor creating offensive opportunities. Frohnen continued to climb the career rebounding charts, averaging a team-high 6.8 boards per game and Bior stepped right into the lineup to become a valuable sixth man with 5.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. After suffering a season-ending injury in his collegiate debut in 2017-18, Rodriguez returned to the lineup and was used as the third-player off the bench. Rodriguez shined late in the year as Allen battled a broken toe. 
 
In 2017-18, Thompson’s second season in San Antonio, the Roadrunners produced their most successful season of the decade. The team finished 20-15 overall, including an 11-7 C-USA record, a 12-4 home mark and only the program’s second postseason victory. UTSA placed fifth in the C-USA standings, defeated UTEP in the opening round of the league tournament, then earned an invitation to the 2018 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) where they hosted and defeated Lamar before bowing out in the event’s quarterfinal.
 
In addition to the 20 wins, which were the most for UTSA since the 2010-11 season, the program ranked sixth in the NCAA with an average of 28.9 defensive rebounds per game, 13th in overall rebounding at 39.8 per game, 16th with 353 made 3-pointers and in the top 20 percent with a scoring average of 78.3 points per game. Among C-USA teams UTSA ranked third in scoring, tops in rebounding and 3-pointers made per game (10.1) along with second in defensive field goal percentage (41.6).
 
Thompson helped the Roadrunners collect numerous awards throughout the season and postseason. Jhivvan Jackson, a guard, was named the C-USA Freshman of the Year, Second Team All-Conference USA, All-Freshman Team and also garnered seven Freshman of the Week plaudits; forward Deon Lyle earned C-USA Sixth Player of the Year honors and guard Keaton Wallace was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team along with picking up three C-USA Freshman of the Week awards. Moreover, Jackson set the UTSA freshman scoring record with 534 points, while also ranking as the sixth-leading frosh scorer in the NCAA, while Lyle tied the UTSA single-season 3-point record with 96, which ranked 44th in the nation.
 
In Thompson’s first season with UTSA, the 2016-17 Roadrunners more than doubled its win total from the year prior from five to 14. Included in the 14 wins were a school record-tying eight Conference USA victories, the program’s first C-USA tournament win and a triumph over I-35 rival Texas State. Moreover, UTSA defeated three of the C-USA’s top four team with its wins over Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion and UTEP.
 
Thompson aided the Roadrunners to one of the best defensive turnarounds in the nation in 2016-17. The team improved its defensive field goal percentage 8.5 percentage points and lowered its points allowed per game by nearly 15.0 points per game. Moreover, the team’s 69.4 points allowed ranked in the top third of Division I and UTSA limited opponents to fewer than 60 points nine times after doing so just once the year prior. In addition to its defensive improvement, the 2016-17 squad also ranked among the best in the nation on the glass, where it led Conference USA with 39.2 rebounds per outing, ranking 27th in NCAA.
 
Thompson also helped mentor Jeff Beverly, who averaged 15.8 points per game and was a finalist for the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year award, along with freshmen Giovanni De Nicolao and Byron Frohnen, who were the only freshmen in Conference USA to start all of their team’s games during the season. Frohnen averaged 8.5 points and led all league rookies with 6.7 rebounds per game on his way to five double-doubles and C-USA All-Freshman Team honors, while De Nicolao averaged 8.2 points per game, including 9.1 points per outing in league contests.
 
Thompson came to UTSA and the Alamo City with 14 years of coaching experience that includes stints in the Big 12 Conference, Big East Conference, Southeastern Conference, Conference USA and at the high school level.
 
He spent five seasons (2011-16) with Henson as a member of Lon Kruger's staff at Oklahoma, where he served as the video coordinator and character coach. Thompson was responsible for all aspects of the video department, including film exchange, film breakdown, scout tapes, player instructional videos, recruiting videos and the team's video playbook.
 
Thompson also worked with the coaching staff to create scouting reports on opponents and he oversaw the student video coordinator staff that filmed and coded all practices for the coaching staff to review.
 
As the team's character coach, Thompson put an emphasis on developing life skills for student-athletes. He also created and implemented the "Xs and Os of Sooner Basketball", which was an eight-week orientation program for incoming student-athletes that focused on the history, traditions and core values of Sooner Basketball, and he hosted voluntary team Bible study and character building sessions.
 
Prior to his time in Norman, Okla., he spent five seasons (2006-11) as the varsity boys basketball coach at Cambridge Christian School in Tampa, Fla., and he served as the school's athletics director for four years as well.
 
A two-time Hillsborough County 1A Coach of the Year, his teams produced a 77-48 record and claimed back-to-back district titles in 2010-11. Thompson guided the Lancers to a pair of berths in the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Sweet 16 along with a trip to the state regional quarterfinals. In all, he mentored eight All-Bay Conference selections and his teams posted a collective GPA of 3.65.
 
Thompson served three seasons (2003-06) as the director of basketball operations at South Florida, where he directed all administrative aspects of the men's basketball program. In addition to his administrative duties, he oversaw team practices and player development, coordinated all aspects of the video department, hired student managers and managed the team's travel and equipment budgets. Thompson also was responsible for academic progress and class attendance accountability of student-athletes and the 2004-05 team was honored as the C-USA Men's Basketball Academic Team of the Year.
 
Thompson got his start in coaching as a student assistant and graduate assistant at Ole Miss, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 2002.
 
Thompson and his wife, Ashley, have three daughters, Brett, Helen and Quinn, and a son, Griffin.