Roosevelt University

Deon Thomas is preparing for his fourth season as the Roosevelt women's basketball head coach in 2025-26. 

It is a return for Thomas and his family as he was an assistant coach with the Lakers during the 2019-20 season under his wife, Emily, who was the Roosevelt head coach. Thomas has previous head coaching experience after leading Ottawa University (Ariz.) as the interim coach for the 2020-21 campaign.

In three seasons in charge at Roosevelt, Thomas has made a dramatic impact on the trajectory of the program. He has already coached six all-conference performers, which does not include 2023-24 CCAC Freshman of the Year Marie Outlay, who was also named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year that season. He has also helped six student-athletes be named Academic All-District by College Sports Communicators during his time with the Lakers.

Immediately before coming back to Chicago for his second stint with the Lakers, Thomas was the Director of Player Development at the University of Missouri, where he was involved in player development along with managing all scouting video and analytics. He came to Missouri after serving for a year as an assistant coach at Saint Louis University. Thomas has also served as an assistant coach at Benedictine University, where he helped the Eagles to back-to-back conference runner-up finishes and a school record 21 victories in 2018-19. 

In his first tenure at Roosevelt, Thomas was recognized for his work at this time, earning Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Thirty under 30 honors. Thomas is a graduate of Judson University, where he earned a degree in exercise sports science with a concentration in sports management. He also attained his Master of Business Administration degree from American Intercontinental University.

Thomas and his wife, Emily, have two young sons, Avonte and Melo.