


They have not disclosed the specific causes of death of Thompson, but that occurred on Thursday in San Antonio and that former NBA player and until last March the coach of the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) had been sick recently.


As a player, Thompson, born in Dallas, was a guard formed in college basketball at Texas A&M first and later at Oklahoma State. He was picked in last place in the first round of the 1994 draft by the Orlando Magic Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway, a team that fought that year without luck, for the title against the Rockets of Hakeem Olajuwon in the Finals of the NBA.


The truth is that Thompson did not have much room in such a powerful team in his debut year nor the next. After 2 seasons in Orlando, where he left a good memory in the personal, the following season jumping between Utah and Denver, where he made his best numbers, and 4th and last season in the league between Phoenix and New York.


After leaving the NBA in 1998, also he opted out of all his playing career and move to the bench. He worked as an assistant at Oklahoma State and later at Arizona State before taking over as head coach of UTSA, a modest college in Division I of the NCAA where he spent 10 seasons and which made history in 2011 by classifying his team for the NCAA tournament,  something that UTSA had never achieved in any sport.


Last March, after a bad season for the coach and a 5-27 record, Thompson was fired and just three months after his departure from the team, comes the news of his death, sorrow has filled those who knew him. Thompson leaves a wife and 3 daughters. Rest in peace.