Stonehill's Skyhawks Coach Used to Fly with the Bentley Falcons
By Jim Fenton, Brockton Enterprise
March 13, 2008
LaToya Thomas of Brockton, who is in her first season as an assistant to Stonehill head coach Trisha Brown, went to NCAA Div. 2 tourney as a Bentley player.
Easton, Mass. - She spent four seasons playing against Stonehill College as a member of the Bentley College women's basketball team.
LaToya Thomas of Brockton and the Falcons went 8-1 against the Skyhawks from 2002-06 in one of the top Northeast-10 Conference rivalries.
Now that her playing days are over and she has begun a coaching career, Thomas has switched over and become part of the Stonehill program.
Thomas, a Brockton High School graduate, is in her first season as an assistant to head coach Trisha Brown on a staff that also includes Kelly Thompson.
It made for an interesting situation when Thomas had to coach against her former team three times this season.
"The first time was obviously hard," said Thomas, a 2006 graduate of Bentley who played forward for the Falcons. "You can only imagine what it was like. There were some girls there who I played with and it was tough to see them warming up and being in the Dana Center (in Waltham)."
Said Brown, "She was phenomenal through that. We, of course, gave her a little bit of a hard time, but she handled it really professionally. It was hard for her."
Ironically, this is the first time since the 1994-95 season that Stonehill won three games from Bentley, doing so on the way to a 26-4 record that has the Skyhawks the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Div. 2 Northeast Regional.
Thomas made it through those matchups with her former team and has enjoyed being part of the Stonehill staff in what has become a special season.
The Skyhawks play seventh-seeded Bryant University in the quarterfinal round of the regional Friday at 1 p.m. in Philadelphia.
"It's great," said Thomas. "Stonehill is literally five minutes away from my house. It's been great. I'm working with the forwards, basically trying to teach them what I learned while I was at Bentley."
After her career at Brockton High, Thomas was a four-year player at Bentley, appearing in 113 games and serving as the captain as a senior in 2005-06. Thomas started all 33 games in her final year and was second in steals, third in assists and rebounds and fifth in scoring.
Thomas knew she wanted to get into the coaching profession and was an assistant coach at Suffolk University in Boston last season before moving close to home this season.
"Even when I was in college, I was coaching summer leagues, and then I got serious about it when I was a senior," said Thomas. "I was coaching the Brockton High team in a summer league and I liked it.
"I'm in love with the game of basketball and after I couldn't play anymore, I had to be involved some way. I just have a passion for it."
That approach has impressed Brown during Thomas' first year on her staff.
"She adds so much passion, and that's what you love about her," said Brown. ."She's a young coach who's very passionate about the game.
"She also comes from a program where she was very well coached. I've been very impressed with her knowledge, just of how to break down a game, the details of the game. She's very, very bright because she was coached by Pat Brennan (at Brockton) and Barbara Stevens (at Bentley)."
Thomas said the lessons she learned from those two coaches are being carried on as she embarks on a career in the business.
"Barbara Stevens is an awesome coach, a defensive coach, and that's what I love to talk about," said Thomas, who would like to be a head coach in the future. "The way she interacts with the players and how concerned she is about their lives off the court is what I remember.
"I still have a lot to learn, but I was fortunate to play for Pat Brennan and Coach Stevens, and I learned a lot from Coach (Ed) Leyden (at Suffolk) and now Coach Brown. I've definitely had some good teachers."
Thomas went to the NCAA Div. 2 tournament the first three years of her Bentley career, reaching the semifinal round as a freshman in 2003 before the Falcons lost to South Dakota State, 69-62, in overtime.
Having been one step away from the championship game, Thomas can bring some tips to the Skyhawks as they prepare for the NCAAs.
"Basically, the best advice is to enjoy the experience," she said. "There are not many teams who can say they are going to the NCAAs. When you get there, just do what got us here, nothing has to change, just be consistent."
