April 21, 2003

LAS VEGAS - Two-year UNLV men's basketball assistant Derek Thomas was announced Monday as the new head coach at Western Illinois University.

WIU athletics director Dr. Tim Van Alstine introduced Thomas, 36, as the program's 18th head coach all-time during a press conference at the school, which is located in Macomb, Ill.

For the past two seasons, Thomas served as the recruiting coordinator and big-man coach for the Runnin' Rebels under head coach Charlie Spoonhour. Thomas also served as an assistant on Spoonhour's staff from 1995-99 at Saint Louis and was a graduate assistant coach under Spoonhour at Southwest Missouri State from 1989-91.

"We have been together for a long time," Spoonhour said. "I am elated for Derek. I am happy that he will have the opportunity to direct his own team. He has worked extremely hard to prepare himself for this and there is no doubt in his mind that he will be very successful. He has great energy, a great knowledge of the game and is a tireless recruiter. He is a great choice for Western Illinois."

Thomas becomes just the third Leatherneck head coach since WIU became a Division-I institution in 1982, following Jack Margenthaler (1977-92) and Jim Kerwin (1992-03).

"Derek Thomas is a rising star in Division I basketball," said Van Alstine. "He has worked at some of the most successful and well-known programs in the country and he has learned from some of the very best coaches in the country. We knew early on in the process that Derek was the right coach for our program."