Peter Thomas - Men's Basketball Coach - University of Richmond Athletics

Peter Thomas

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
peter.thomas@richmond.edu

Associate Head Coach, University of Richmond, 2023-present
Assistant Coach, University of Richmond, 2022-23
Interim Head Coach, University of Richmond, 2023
Associate Head Coach, Campbell University, 2017-22
Assistant Coach, Campbell University, 2013-17
Director of Basketball Operations, University of Richmond, 2008-13
Basketball Operations Assistant, Eastern Kentucky University, 2007-08

Thomas, a 2007 Richmond graduate, rejoined Richmond as an Assistant Coach in May 2022 following nine seasons on the staff at Campbell University, including five as an associate head coach (2017-22). In June 2023, he was promoted to Associate Head Coach of the Spiders Men's Basketball program.

In his first season as associate head coach in 2023-24, Thomas and the Spiders went 15-3 in Atlantic 10 play, setting a school record for conference wins in a season and capturing the program's first A-10 regular season title since joining the league in 2001. Richmond won 11 straight games from mid-December through the end of January, the team's longest win streak since 1935, and finished the year 15-1 in the Robins Center, its best home record since the arena opened in 1972. The Spiders finished the season with an appearance in the NIT and a record of 23-10, tied for the sixth most wins in a season in program history.

During his first season back with the Spiders, Thomas was elevated to Interim Head Coach for the final six games of the season when Chris Mooney announced on February 17, 2023 that he would step away from the program to undergo heart surgery. In his first game as Interim Head Coach, Thomas led the Spiders to a 15-point comeback victory over preseason A-10 co-favorite Saint Louis in the Robins Center. At the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Brooklyn, Thomas and the Spiders posted a 33-point victory over Massachusetts, the second largest margin of victory in the history of the event. After the season, he was named Richmond Athletics Assistant Coach of the Year by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council.

Thomas served as Richmond's Director of Basketball Operations for five seasons from 2008-13, helping the Spiders to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, an Atlantic 10 title and a Sweet 16 berth. Richmond compiled a 110-64 record during Thomas' first stint on staff, securing the highest NCAA Tournament seed (7) in school history in 2010 and winning a school-record 29 games in 2011, when UR defeated Vanderbilt and Morehead State in the NCAA Tournament to reach the Sweet 16.

Thomas, a native of Little Rock, Ark., began his playing career as a walk-on at Richmond in 2003. When current Spiders Head Coach Chris Mooney arrived in Richmond in 2005, he awarded Thomas a scholarship. Thomas would start all 60 games for the Spiders over the next two years.

As a senior and team captain in 2006-07, Thomas averaged 6.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game while shooting 53 percent from the field and earning Academic All-Conference honors for a second straight season.

In his nine seasons at Campbell from 2013 to 2022, Thomas helped the Fighting Camels to five winning seasons, three postseason appearances, a pair of trips to the Big South championship game, and the 2019 regular season Big South title, just the second conference title in program history.

Thomas was the lead recruiter of former Campbell star Chris Clemons, who finished his career in 2019 third on the NCAA Division I scoring list with 3,225 points. Clemons is the only player in Campbell history to earn All-American honors in Division I.

Thomas started his coaching career in 2007, when he started a one-year stint as a basketball operations assistant at Eastern Kentucky. Thomas received his Master's degree in sports management from EKU in 2009.

Thomas and his wife Jamie, a 2009 graduate of the University of Richmond, have a daughter, Claire, and a son, Peter.