Chris Thompson was hired as an assistant coach of New York University's men's basketball program in June 2022.
In 2024-25, Thompson helped lead the squad to the most wins in program history and to the NCAA Division III National Championship game (a 64-60 loss to Trinity (CT) College). The Violets went 29-2 overall and won the University Athletic Association (UAA) with a 13-1 record.
As a reward for their outstanding efforts, NYU received UAA Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
The players also received recognition, with Tristan How being named UAA Player of the Year, First Team All-UAA, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District IV Player of the Year, Final Four All-Tournament Team and D3hoops.com Second Team All-American. Zay Freeney received Second Team All-UAA, NABC District IV Second Team and D3hoops.com Region IV Third Team honors, while Hampton Sanders earned Second Team All-UAA and Final Four All-Tournament Team accolades.
The achievements extended off the court and into the classroom, as well, with How earning College Sports Communicators (CSC) Second Team Academic All-American honors and seven players selected UAA Winter All-Academic.
In 2023-24, Thompson helped lead the Violets to a 21-6 record, the UAA Co-Championship (the program’s first title in 30 years), and to the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The Violets hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, defeating Husson University 82-61 before falling to Tufts University 65-62.
NYU finished seventh in the nation in three-point shooting percentage (39.02) and 19th in assist/turnover ratio (1.43).
Spencer Freedman garnered numerous awards including D3hoops.com National Player of the Year, UAA Player of the Year, NABC Third Team All-American, and First Team All-Metropolitan.
Three Violets grabbed All-UAA honors with Freedman a First Team selection and Freeney and Michael Savarino chosen Second Team. Freeney and Savarino were also chosen Third Team All-Metropolitan.
In his first season at NYU, the Violets made its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2015-16. The Violets posted an 18-8 overall record and added a 7-7 mark in the UAA, the most victories since 2015-16.
The Violets won their first 11 games of the season and the last five games before being nipped by Lancaster Bible College, 67-64, in the NCAA Tournament.
NYU was selected UAA Coaching Staff of the Year in 2022-23, while Freedman was named D3hoops.com Third Team All-American, Region 4 Most Outstanding Player and Region 4 First Team, as well as First Team All-UAA and All-Met. Both Freeney and Cinque Stephens were honored during the season as a UAA Athlete of the Week.
Thompson has coached at the Division III level since 2013. Most recently, he served as Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator of the men's basketball team at Pratt Institute during the 2021-22 season, recruiting and developing the 2022 Coast-to-Coast Conference Rookie of the Year. Thompson also served as the Recruiting Coordinator for the Department of Athletics.
Prior to Pratt, Thompson worked as an assistant men's basketball coach and athletic promotions and marketing director at Stevens Institute of Technology from 2016-21. He led the Ducks' recruiting efforts and helped guide the program to the NCAA Tournament in 2020. Stevens finished with a winning record in all four of his full seasons on staff.
Thompson also spent the 2015-16 season as an assistant at Elmira College, directing all recruiting efforts, team travel and scouting reports while serving as the Head Junior Varsity Coach.
His first coaching position began in 2013 at St. John Fisher College, where he helped lead the Cardinals to an Empire 8 Conference title and NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance in 2015 as part of the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year.
Thompson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Childhood Education with a Mathematics concentration from SUNY Plattsburgh in 2011, where he also served as a men's basketball student assistant. He went on to earn a Master's Degree in Literacy Education from Elmira in 2017.
A native of Voorheesville, NY, Thompson resides in Hoboken, NJ, with his wife Kaitlyn and their son Grant.
