Evelyn Thompson enters her first season as an assistant coach for the UMass Lowell women's basketball program in 2024-25.
Thompson comes to the Mill City with years of experience in the basketball realm at various universities. At her most recent stop, Miami University, Thompson served as a women's basketball assistant coach for the 2023-24 season.
While at Miami, Thompson's primary responsibilities were recruitment, coaching the guards, preparing and presenting scouting reports, overseeing academic progress, alumni and donor relations, and fundraising.
Previously, Thompson had a notable career as the head coach at Cleveland State Community College from 2017-2023. Some of her memorable highlights include being the 2021-22 TCCAA Region 7 Runners-Up, being named TCCAA Region 7 Women's Basketball Chair and East Division Co-Coach of the Year in 2021. During her tenure, she also guided 14 All-Conference selections and coached Asjah Harrell to NJCAA Women's Basketball All-American Second Team honors in 2019-20.
Throughout her 20-year tenure in collegiate athletics, Thompson has made several stops at distinguished universities, such as Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Michigan State, Buffalo, Western Kentucky and Arizona State. At all of these schools, she served as an assistant coach, tackling recruiting, overseeing academics, producing scouting reports, developing athletes and handling administrative duties. Thompson also spent two years at Stony Brook from 2009-11, first as an assistant coach before taking over as interim head coach.
Aside from coaching at the college level, Thompson worked at Blue Star Basketball as a Consultant and Evaluator from 2013-15, scouting and evaluating student-athletes for a premier scouting service. She was also the girls' basketball head coach for Michigan Crossover AAU Nike Elite from 2011-12, where she had the opportunity to coach some of the top high school players in the country.
Thompson played basketball for the Auburn Tigers from 1988-90. While there, she was part of two SEC Championships and played in the National Championship twice.
Before Auburn, she spent two years (1986-88) at Northeast Mississippi Community College playing basketball where she was a Kodak All-American in 1988. She also earned All-State and All-Region honors there, and helped the program claim the title of NJCAA National Champions in 1986-87.
Thompson has been inducted into the MACJC Hall of Fame (2018), Northeast Mississippi Community College Hall of Fame (2009), and Georgia Metros AAU Hall of Fame (2006).
Thompson earned a bachelor's degree in English from Auburn with a minor in psychology.
