Thompson Leaves Rice to Take Wichita State Coaching Position
Scott Thompson, who guided Rice’s basketball team to its first 20-victory season since 1953-54, resigned to take the head coaching job at Wichita State Monday night.
Houston television station KHOU reported Thompson, 37, was signing a five-year deal at Wichita worth between $1.5 million and $2 million.
At Wichita State, Thompson replaces Mike Cohen, who resigned after compiling a 32-56 record in three seasons and losing 20 games this year, a school single-season record for losses.
Thompson led Rice to a 20-11 mark this season. Through five seasons with Thompson, Rice was 65-79.
“I told the guys the program will go on with or without Scott Thompson,” he said. “The hard part is that I feel we will be good in years to come, and I still love Rice.”
Nevada Las Vegas and Oregon had sought to talk with Thompson.
More to Read
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.