About

Coach Scott Thom started his coaching journey in 2003 as the head coach for boy’s basketball at Vintage High in Napa, California.  With each year the Crushers improved and in 2009-10 season they made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years and Thom was named Coach of the Year.  One of the pillars Thom encouraged his Vintage players to strive for on a daily basis was the “3 C’s” which was to do your best in the Community, in the Classroom, and on the Court.  Since Thom’s time at Vintage, he has added other pillars of success during his journey.  Among the “3 C’s”, are; P.M.A which stands for Positive Mental Attitude, P.R.I.D.E which is Personal Responsibility In Daily Efforts, Contagious Confidence, and lastly, Responsibility + Accountability = Success.

In 2010 Coach Thom was hired at the University of California Berkeley as the head strength coach/player development for the men’s basketball team.  Coach Thom was part of everyday operations; practice, film, staff meetings, individual court workouts, and was in charge of the players’ strength and conditioning levels.  Being part of a staff that included coaches such as; Mike Montgomery, Travis DeCuire, Gregg Gottlieb, John Montgomery, and Matt Scherbenske is an experience Thom holds dear to his heart, “it was a blessing to be around such great coaches and players on a daily basis, I was always learning.”  Cal finished in the top four of the Pac-12 and made post season play (NCAA/NIT) all four years Thom was part of the staff. Two of those years he was awarded the “Spot” award, this was given to those who show superior commitment to the athletic department.  In the four years Thom was at Cal he worked and built lasting relationships with; Jorge Gutierrez, Allen Crabbe, Tyrone Wallace, David Kravish, Justin Cobbs, Sam Singer, Stephen Domingo, Jordan Mathews, and many more.  Thom to this day, still trains with these players during the off-season of their professional careers.

After Coach Montgomery retired in 2014, Coach Thom was hired at Washington State University as the head strength coach/player development.  At Washington State Coach Thom was fortunate to work with another hall of fame caliber staff led by Ernie Kent.  Coaches such as Curtis Allen, Gregg Graham, Silvey Dominguez were not only friends but became mentors in Thom’s coaching journey.  In the summer of 2016 Thom was fortunate to be selected as one of the coaches to accompany a group of Pac-12 All-Star players to Australia.  The Pac-12 All-Stars would play a series of warmup games versus the Australian National team before the National team would go on to play in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro.  When asked about the Pac-12 All-Star trip, Thom responded, “I was smiling the whole time, the experience was really special.”  In the two years at WSU, Thom helped such players as; Josh Hawkinson, Ike Iroegbu, Charles Callison, and Robert Franks turn their dreams of playing professionally into a reality.  Lastly, Thom finished a book he had been working on for three years called, Season of Strength and completed his Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University.

Professional Players in Thom’s Tenure 

Jorge Gutierrez | Brooklyn Nets

Allen Crabbe | Portland Trailblazers

Tyrone Wallace | Los Angeles Clippers

Robert Franks  |  Orlando Magic

Roger Moute Abidias  |  Golden State Warriors

Jabari Bird  |  Boston Celtics

Trevelin Queen  |  Houston Rockets

Jordan Mathews  |  Vanoli Cremona

Ike Iroegbu  |  Rasta Vectha

Josh Hawkinson  |  Shinshu Brave

Richard Solomon  |  Toyama Grouses

Justin Cobbs   |   Buducnosi Voli

David Kravish  |  Brose Bamburg

Harper Kamp  |   BG Gottingen

Que Johnson  |  Blumenau

In 2016 Coach Thom was hired as the head coach for men’s basketball at College of Marin, a program that was on probation due to illegal recruiting and hadn’t had a winning season since 1995.  In Thom’s third season the Mariners finished in third place in the BVC at 10-6 and were 14-13 overall, with a team GPA of 3.2 finishing 2nd in the state academically.  In Thom’s fourth season the Mariners had another winning season, which was the first back to back winning seasons in the program since 1989.  They finished fourth in conference and earned a team GPA of 3.15 which was 3rd in the state academically. Thom attributes this quick turnaround to the type of players his staff recruits to College of Marin, utilizing an abundance of resources Marin offers students on campus, and the support system through faculty and staff led by Athletic Director, Ryan Byrne.  When asked about the turnaround from the initial season with his first recruiting class which had an overall record of 3-21.  Thom responded, “we want student-athletes to view College of Marin as a ‘destination for development’, we want our men’s basketball program to represent this on a daily basis, which means we only recruit motivated student-athletes that will utilize our many academic and athletic resources.  Whether it’s the free tutoring during our study hall sessions or a team lift in our amazing Fitness Center, players that put in the work will develop, succeed on and off the court, graduate, and move on to four-year programs.”  Thom is assisted by Tony Rubio, Michael Beleson, Francisco Voellar, and Joe Lazor.  Along with head coaching duties Thom also oversees the strength and conditioning programs for; men’s basketball, baseball, women’s basketball, volleyball, and women’s soccer.

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All-Conference Players in Thom’s Tenure           

2016-17           JT Robinson

2017-18           Derek Morgan

2018-19           Eric Mireri and Joey Potts

2019-20           Jalen Chandler

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Players Moving onto Four-Year Programs in Thom’s Tenure

2016-17 

JT Robinson | College of Saskatchewan

Karim N’dyae | University of Biola

Trevelin Queen | New Mexico State

2017-18  

Derek Morgan | Union College

Jack Soldavini | Holy Names University

Garrick Sherrod | Eastern New Mexico University

2018-19  

Eric Mireri | University of Idaho

Joey Potts | Oregon State University

Chris Kress | University of San Diego

Jaime Banegas | Pennsylvania State University

Zamaria Odom | Holy Names University

2019-20   

Malik Ghiden | University of California Berkeley

Jalen Chandler | San Francisco State University

Ethan Battistini | Whittier College