THUNDER BAY – Odds are good Ryan Thomson will be back behind the bench next season with the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team.
School athletic director Tom Warden on Tuesday said while no decisions have been made, he is planning to meet with Thomson to discuss his future with the program, after the former Thunderwolves star took over an 0-10 team from Manny Furtado at the Christmas break and guided it to a 2-12 finish.
Warden said for now Thomson is busy recruiting talent for next season and beyond, a role required in the interim contract he signed when agreeing to grab the reins of his former team.
“Obviously he took over in a tough situation and I honestly think he did really well. And I know that his athletes feel that,” Warden said. “But he and I have to sit down and talk about what the next steps are and where we go from here.
“So far I’m very pleased with Ryan’s work and the way he’s managed our program under difficult times.”
Thomson, who last played with the Wolves in 2013, brings an impressive pedigree to the OUA coaching table.
He served under former LU coach and current Boston Celtics assistant Scott Morrison in the NBA G-League, and was working with the National Basketball League squad in Saint John, N.B. before Warden contacted him about the Thunderwolves job.
Thomson, speaking after his team’s final game last month, said the team is in good shape, despite the record and the departure of a key player like guard Mor Menashe, lost to graduation.
“I think we have a lot to build on. I think we saw when we compete and do the little things we talk about in practice every day we have a chance to win. It’s going to be a little bit tougher without Mor’s voice in the locker room and certainly we’re going to need other guys to step up and hopefully some other new guys to come in and fill that void by committee,” Thomson said, not giving any indication he plans on being anywhere other than the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse when the 2018-19 basketball season rolls around.
Thomson said he had one real goal when he arrived and he thinks he got the job done.
“Certainly we were focused on helping guys get better and that’s still our focus,” he said. “I think we saw it with a couple of guys with their confidence especially. Other guys got a chance to play. I thought Nahshon Hurst) was great in the second semester. I have a lot of high hopes for (Rashean Simpson) going forward.”
Warden said there was no timetable in place to make an announcement, adding he’ll be sitting down with the coaches in all of teh school's varsity athletic programs to go over how their respective seasons went and where there might be room for improvement.
Wolf tracks: The athletics department named its athletes of the month for February. Menashe got the nod in men’s basketball, while Grand Marais, Minn.’s Lily Gruber-Schulz got the nod for the women’s team. Other recipients included Camille Hamm and Geoff Way-Nee in Nordic skiing, USports silver medalists Jessica Bershatsky and Jacob Luczak in wrestling, track and field’s Rebekkah Pyle and Derek Patterson, Meghan Routier in volleyball and Sam Schutt from the men’s hockey team.
