Thompson Returns to Rose’s Staff as Assistant Coach

Previously served on staff in graduate assistant role

8/19/2025 3:05:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball sideline will see a familiar face return for the 2025-26 season as head coach Ron Rose announced the hiring of Liam Thompson Tuesday, Aug. 19. A former graduate assistant for the Titans, Thompson will start his second stint on Rose's staff this fall.

Thompson returns to IWU following a one-year run as an assistant coach at Wabash College. In his lone season in Crawfordsville, Ind., Thompson helped lead the Little Giants to a 17-9 overall record that included a 13-3 North Coast Athletic Conference mark. During that time, he coached Noah Hupmann and Vinny Buccilla to All-NCAC honors, while Hupmann was also voted the league's top defensive player.

Thompson spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons on staff for the Titans, serving as the head varsity reserves coach and assisting in the program's strength and conditioning efforts. In his most recent season in Bloomington, he helped guide IWU to a 19-8 overall record with a 14-2 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark. The Green and White claimed the CCIW Regular Season Championship and narrowly missed out on an NCAA Tournament berth.

A native of Pennsylvania, he earned his undergraduate degree from Elizabethtown College in 2021. There, he was a member of the men's basketball team, serving as a captain in his senior season. Thompson earned his graduate degree in sport management from Illinois State in 2024.

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