Men's Basketball
Thom, Billy
Billy Thom
- Title:
- Student Assistant Coach
- Email:
- bithom@davidson.edu
- Phone:
- 2964
Davidson '11
First Season
Billy Thom thought his career at Davidson was over when he graduated from the college in May 2011 with a degree in Spanish. He was in the process of considering several high school teaching positions where he’d also have a chance to assist in coaching the school basketball team.
It was an exciting and apprehensive time for him. Teaching is a noble profession, and Thom knows it and respects it. But he wanted to coach. He’s wanted that for as long as he could remember.
His world turned upside down when an unexpected opening occurred on Davidson’s coaching staff. Terrell Ivory, who was Davidson’s director of basketball operations, got a job as a full-time assistant on the basketball staff at Colgate. It was a promotion in the coaching ranks for Ivory and a possible breakthrough for Thom.
He was subsequently offered the Davidson job by coach Bob McKillop and it took him all of two seconds to accept. “I was automatically excited,” is the way Thom puts it.
As director of operations, Thom will be in charge of film exchange and making sure video is shot of Davidson’s games. He’ll also do some scouting and assist office manager Susan Mercer in making sure Davidson’s travel plans are handled without problems. He’ll have his hands full, which is the way he likes it. That’s good because Coach McKillop will hand off some other unexpected assignments that Thom will have to handle on the fly. It happens in a busy office.
Thom, of course, is an old hand when it comes to Davidson basketball. He excelled as a student manager for two years and then was promoted to Davidson’s student director of basketball operations for his junior and senior seasons.
His ambition to coach basketball comes naturally. His father is in his 24th season as teacher and head basketball coach at Croton-Harmon High School in upstate New York. Billy played for his father at Croton-Harmon and knew early on that he’d like to be a coach. He received some experience when he helped coach the junior varsity team at Croton-Harmon.
Always meticulous in his planning, Thom came South during the spring of his junior year in high school to investigate colleges that he might like to attend. He visited Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Davidson and a few other schools. He met with Coach McKillop at Davidson and told him of his goal to coach basketball. He wanted to know his chances of coming to Davidson and being a team manager.
Things worked out. Thom got the appointment as manager and made the most of it. He was efficient in every area of his job — always on time, polite, hard-working, and deadly serious about winning. He was so good, in fact, that he received the student promotion and had more duties dumped on his shoulders. When Thom was given an assignment, it usually came off without a hitch. He could organize a bowl of chop suey.
“Billy is chasing his dream and living his passion,” Coach McKillop said. “He came to Davidson in 2007 as a freshman who knew that he wanted to be a coach. He’s a sponge the way he soaks up things. He has the respect of all our coaches and players. His appointment was an easy one to make because of how much he invested. Billy’s father is a prominent basketball coach in New York, and Billy is one of our own who knows our system inside and out.”
Thom took his duties as student director of basketball operations seriously. He was so dedicated to his duties that when scrimmaging with the scout team against the varsity last year, he took a sharp elbow to the nose and suffered a broken nose and concussion that kept him from traveling with the team to several road games.
Thom has served as assistant camp director for the Bob McKillop Basketball Camp at Davidson. He was a volunteer assistant coach for the Croton-Harmon basketball program last summer.
He has a brother who is a junior in high school and plays basketball for his father.
Thom is in no rush. He landed in a good place. Serendipity is one explanation. He knows it takes time to move up the coaching ladder. But he’s already off to a much faster start than he thought possible just a few months ago.
First Season
Billy Thom thought his career at Davidson was over when he graduated from the college in May 2011 with a degree in Spanish. He was in the process of considering several high school teaching positions where he’d also have a chance to assist in coaching the school basketball team.
It was an exciting and apprehensive time for him. Teaching is a noble profession, and Thom knows it and respects it. But he wanted to coach. He’s wanted that for as long as he could remember.
His world turned upside down when an unexpected opening occurred on Davidson’s coaching staff. Terrell Ivory, who was Davidson’s director of basketball operations, got a job as a full-time assistant on the basketball staff at Colgate. It was a promotion in the coaching ranks for Ivory and a possible breakthrough for Thom.
He was subsequently offered the Davidson job by coach Bob McKillop and it took him all of two seconds to accept. “I was automatically excited,” is the way Thom puts it.
As director of operations, Thom will be in charge of film exchange and making sure video is shot of Davidson’s games. He’ll also do some scouting and assist office manager Susan Mercer in making sure Davidson’s travel plans are handled without problems. He’ll have his hands full, which is the way he likes it. That’s good because Coach McKillop will hand off some other unexpected assignments that Thom will have to handle on the fly. It happens in a busy office.
Thom, of course, is an old hand when it comes to Davidson basketball. He excelled as a student manager for two years and then was promoted to Davidson’s student director of basketball operations for his junior and senior seasons.
His ambition to coach basketball comes naturally. His father is in his 24th season as teacher and head basketball coach at Croton-Harmon High School in upstate New York. Billy played for his father at Croton-Harmon and knew early on that he’d like to be a coach. He received some experience when he helped coach the junior varsity team at Croton-Harmon.
Always meticulous in his planning, Thom came South during the spring of his junior year in high school to investigate colleges that he might like to attend. He visited Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Davidson and a few other schools. He met with Coach McKillop at Davidson and told him of his goal to coach basketball. He wanted to know his chances of coming to Davidson and being a team manager.
Things worked out. Thom got the appointment as manager and made the most of it. He was efficient in every area of his job — always on time, polite, hard-working, and deadly serious about winning. He was so good, in fact, that he received the student promotion and had more duties dumped on his shoulders. When Thom was given an assignment, it usually came off without a hitch. He could organize a bowl of chop suey.
“Billy is chasing his dream and living his passion,” Coach McKillop said. “He came to Davidson in 2007 as a freshman who knew that he wanted to be a coach. He’s a sponge the way he soaks up things. He has the respect of all our coaches and players. His appointment was an easy one to make because of how much he invested. Billy’s father is a prominent basketball coach in New York, and Billy is one of our own who knows our system inside and out.”
Thom took his duties as student director of basketball operations seriously. He was so dedicated to his duties that when scrimmaging with the scout team against the varsity last year, he took a sharp elbow to the nose and suffered a broken nose and concussion that kept him from traveling with the team to several road games.
Thom has served as assistant camp director for the Bob McKillop Basketball Camp at Davidson. He was a volunteer assistant coach for the Croton-Harmon basketball program last summer.
He has a brother who is a junior in high school and plays basketball for his father.
Thom is in no rush. He landed in a good place. Serendipity is one explanation. He knows it takes time to move up the coaching ladder. But he’s already off to a much faster start than he thought possible just a few months ago.
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