According to a report from Inside Carolina Tuesday morning, former player Deon Thompson is set to join UNC men’s basketball head coach Michael Malone’s staff in Chapel Hill.
Thompson was a four-year standout for the Tar Heels, appearing in 152 games, starting 113 and helping UNC win the 2009 national championship. Playing alongside Tyler Hansbrough in the post, Thompson averaged 10.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for the 2008-09 Tar Heels. He scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds in UNC’s title game victory against Michigan State.
Once Hansbrough graduated, Thompson inherited a larger role in the 2009-10 season and posted his best statistical season, with career highs in points (13.7 per game), rebounds (6.7 per game), steals (1.1 per game) and free throw percentage (69.3).
Thompson would then embark on a long career playing basketball overseas. In that time, Thompson was named an All-Star in Greece, Slovenia and Germany while winning league titles in Lithuania, the Adriatic, Serbia, Israel and Germany again. Now, Inside Carolina reports Thompson will pursue a master’s degree at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School while serving on Malone’s coaching staff.
Thompson will be yet another former player to become an assistant coach at UNC in recent seasons. Under former head coach Hubert Davis, all assistants were former players, including Sean May, Pat Sullivan and Marcus Paige. While Paige has since departed for an assistant job at Charlotte (where former Tar Heel Wes Miller has been hired as head coach), May and Sullivan have been retained. Malone has also hired former Arkansas assistant Chuck Martin as he continues to fill out his bench.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications
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