Swan Song: Retiring Pacific Coach Bob Thomason Truly is One of a Kind

May 24th, 2012 - 7:58

Pacific's Bob Thomason, the only active NCAA Division I mentor who became his alma mater's all-time winningest coach after earning all-conference first-team acclaim as a player, will retire after the 2012-13 campaign. A total of 33 individuals are coaching their DI alma maters but Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and Sacred Heart's Dave Bike are the only ones other than Thomason to be the all-time winningest coach.

John Gianelli, one of Thomason's teammates, went on to play with four different NBA teams for eight seasons from 1972-73 through 1979-80. Thomason is one of the following 63 active coaches, including eight from Princeton and Penn, who were all-conference selections in a DI alliance:

Active Coach Current School Alma Mater Conference All-League Honors
Steve Alford New Mexico Indiana Big Ten 1984, 1986 and 1987 (1st); 1985 (2nd)
Jerome Allen Penn Penn Ivy League 1993 through 1995 (1st)
Tommy Amaker Harvard Duke ACC 1987 (2nd)
Tony Barbee Auburn Massachusetts Atlantic 10 1991 and 1993 (2nd)
Tony Benford North Texas Texas Tech Southwest 1986 (2nd)
Tony Bennett Virginia Wisconsin-Green Bay Mid-Continent 1990 through 1992 (1st); 1989 (2nd)
Eddie Biedenbach UNC Asheville North Carolina State ACC 1966 and 1968 (1st)
Matt Brady James Madison Siena ECAC North Atlantic 1985 and 1987 (2nd)
Larry Brown Southern Methodist North Carolina ACC 1963 (1st); 1962 (2nd)
Milan Brown Holy Cross Howard University MEAC 1993 (1st)
Jason Capel Appalachian State North Carolina ACC 2001 and 2002 (3rd)
John Cooper Miami (oh) Wichita State Missouri Valley 1990 (2nd)
Paul Courtney Cornell Bucknell Patriot League 1991 and 1992 (1st)
Gravelle Craig Bethune-Cookman Cleveland State Mid-Continent 1993 (1st); 1992 (2nd)
Johnny Dawkins Stanford Duke ACC 1985 and 1986 (1st); 1983 and 1984 (2nd)
Jamie Dixon Pittsburgh Texas Christian SWC 1987 (2nd)
Billy Donovan Florida Providence Big East 1987 (1st); 1986 (3rd)
Bryce Drew Valparaiso Valparaiso Mid-Continent 1996 through 1998 (1st); 1995 (2nd)
Bruiser Flint Drexel St. Joseph's Atlantic 10 1987 (2nd)
Geno Ford Bradley Ohio University Mid-American 1997 (1st); 1996 (2nd)
Travis Ford Oklahoma State Kentucky SEC 1993 and 1994 (2nd)
Jerod Haase UAB Kansas Big Eight 1995 (2nd)
Mitch Henderson Princeton Princeton Ivy League 1998 (2nd)
Fred Hoiberg Iowa State Iowa State Big Eight 1995 (1st); 1994 (2nd)
George Ivory Arkansas-Pine Bluff Mississippi Valley State SWAC 1987 (1st)
Lewis Jackson Alabama State Alabama State SWAC 1983 and 1984 (1st)
Sydney Johnson Fairfield Princeton Ivy League 1996 and 1997 (1st)
Trent Johnson Texas Christian Boise State Big Sky 1978 (2nd)
Derek Kellogg Massachusetts Massachusetts Atlantic 10 1995 (3rd)
Andy Kennedy Mississippi UAB Sun Belt 1991 (1st); 1990 (2nd)
Lon Kruger Oklahoma Kansas State Big Eight 1973 and 1974 (1st); 1972 (2nd)
Larry Krystkowiak Utah Montana Big Sky 1984 through 1986 (1st)
Matt Langel Colgate Penn Ivy League 2000 (1st)
Jeff Lebo East Carolina North Carolina ACC 1988 (2nd)
Jim Les UC Davis Bradley Missouri Valley 1986 (1st)
Paul Lusk Jr. Missouri State Southern Illinois Missouri Valley 1994 (2nd)
Danny Manning Tulsa Kansas Big Eight 1986 through 1988 (1st); 1985 (2nd)
Cuonzo Martin Tennessee Purdue Big Ten 1994 and 1995 (1st)
Bashir Mason Wagner Drexel CAA 2007 (3rd)
Ray McCallum Detroit Ball State Mid-American 1981 through 1983 (1st); 1980 (2nd)
Mike McConathy Northwestern State Louisiana Tech Southland 1976 and 1977 (1st); 1975 (2nd)
Greg McDermott Creighton Northern Iowa Mid-Continent 1987 (2nd)
Sean Miller Arizona Pittsburgh Big East 1992 (2nd)
Mark Montgomery Northern Illinois Michigan State Big Ten 1992 (3rd)
Chris Mooney Richmond Princeton Ivy League 1993 (1st); 1994 (2nd)
Stew Morrill Utah State Gonzaga Big Sky 1974 (1st)
Dan Muller Illinois State Illinois State Missouri Valley 1998 (2nd)
Kevin Ollie Connecticut Connecticut Big East 1995 (3rd)
Louis Orr Bowling Green State Syracuse Big East 1980 (1st)
Lewis Preston Kennesaw State Virginia Military southern 1993 (2nd)
Craig Robinson Oregon State Princeton Ivy League 1982 and 1983 (1st); 1981 (2nd)
Joe Scott Denver Princeton Ivy League 1987 (2nd)
Bennie Seltzer Samford Washington State Pacific-10 1993 (1st)
Dave Simmons McNeese State Louisiana Tech Southland 1981 (1st); 1979 and 1980 (2nd)
Marty Simmons Evansville Evansville Midwestern Collegiate 1987 and 1988 (1st)
Bob Thomason Pacific Pacific WCAC 1971 (1st)
Brooks Thompson Texas-San Antonio Oklahoma State Big Eight 1994 (1st)
Wayne Tinkle Montana Montana Big Sky 1988 and 1989 (2nd)
Andy Toole Robert Morris Penn Ivy League 2002 (1st); 2003 (2nd)
Rex Walters San Francisco Kansas Big Eight 1992 and 1993 (1st)
Brian Wardle Green Bay Marquette C-USA 2001 (1st); 2000 (2nd)
Corliss Williamson Central Arkansas Arkansas SEC 1994 and 1995 (1st)
C.Y. Young Georgia Southern Georgia Southern Southern and TAAC 1994 (1st); 1992 and 1993 (2nd)