CHICAGO – Roosevelt women's basketball head coach Deon Thomas announced Thursday the addition of veteran coach Kevin McManaman as the program's new assistant coach.

McManaman joins the Lakers after spending last season as an assistant at Lewis, where he helped the Flyers achieve a No. 14 ranking and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. McManaman has more than three decades of experience at all levels of college basketball with stops at junior college, Division I, Division II and Division III programs.

Prior to arriving at Lewis, McManaman was an assistant coach at Morton College for four seasons, helping to develop former Lakers guard Jalyssa Carrasco. Within the past 15 years, he has also spent time as an assistant at Akron, Cleveland State and Northern Illinois with a stop at Lyons Township High School mixed in.

His coaching career began in 1993 as an assistant coach at his alma mater, St. Mary's University of Minnesota, where he stayed for seven years. McManaman then moved on to Marquette for two seasons before joining the staff at UIC from 2002-2009. He spent a season at Dominican in 2009-10 followed by a two-year stop at UW-Milwaukee before heading to Dekalb for three years with the Huskies.

"I am thrilled to add Kevin to my staff here at Roosevelt," Thomas said. "His experience at the DII level paired with his recruiting connections across the Midwest will continue to help us attract top talent to Chicago."

During his career, McManaman has coached more than 25 all-conference players in the NCAA ranks, including one conference Player of the Year and three Newcomers of the Year. While at Morton, he coached four All-Americans, four conference players of the year and 15 all-conference athletes. He was named the Assistant Coach of the Year for junior colleges in 2023 by World Exposure Report as well.

McManaman's specialty is guards and defense and his impact has been noticeable across his tenure coaching in the Midwest. Lewis made marked improvements on defense to finish second in the league last year, and Morton College was among the best in the entire country on defense during his four years. He coached the top 3-pointer shooters in the Mid-American Conference and Horizon League during his stints at Akron and Cleveland State. He was also apart of the staff that turned around Dominican's program in 2010-11, taking the Stars from worst to first during his only season there.

"I want to thank Michael Cassidy, Vice President of Athletics and Student-Athlete Success, and Deon Thomas for this tremendous opportunity to join one of the top universities in one of the top Division II conferences in the country," McManaman said. "I look forward to helping Coach Thomas and the Lakers continue moving up the ladder in the GLIAC and help recruit and work with some of the best student-athletes in the country. I can't wait for the players to get back in the fall and start making my mark on this program."