Ben Thompson is entering his fifth season as Head Men's Basketball Coach at Emory & Henry College.  During his first season in 2019-20, Thompson guided the Wasps to a berth in the ODAC Tournament and won the most league games of any first-year head coach in program history. The team finished the season on a three-game home winning streak, defeating No. 13 Virginia Wesleyan University in double overtime, in the process. The Wasps also led the ODAC in free throw percentage (75.3%) and finished second in scoring (75.7 ppg). Senior Colin Molden was named to the All-ODAC Second Team and VaSID All-State Second Team after leading league in scoring. 

Prior to his arrival at Emory, Thompson spent three seasons as the Head Men's Basketball Coach at SUNY Canton. He left as the all-time winningest Division III Coach in program history, as well as the fourth-winningest coach in program history. Thompson guided the Roos to a 20-win season en route to the inaugural American Collegiate Athletic Association Conference Championship and its first Eastern College Athletic Conference playoff win in school history. The ECAC win was the first NCAA-sponsored win in school history, for any sport, and the ACAA Championship was the first NCAA conference championship in program history as well. During his time at SUNY Canton, the program posted the two highest GPAs in program history as well as a 100 percent graduation rate. Thompson’s tenure at Canton also saw a record five Specialty Student Award winners, two ACAA All-Academic Team members, led the state of New York for Division III attendance, and also received votes while being named as a team to watch in D-III News Top 25 National Poll for the first time in program history. On the court, his teams led Division III for blocks per game (6.4) and ranked second across all divisions to Duke University. Thompson’s teams also led the country in free throw margin (+389), fifth in the nation for three-point percentage defense (29.1%), fifth in the nation for offensive rebounds per game (15.4), and eighth in the nation for defensive efficiency (0.769). The Roos did this while also having the highest RPI (.535) and SOS (.527) in program history.

In the summer of 2018, Thompson led the USA Division III Men's Basketball National Team on a tour of Brazil. The team won all five games on the trip defeating Jundiai, Santa Andre, LSB All-Star (G-League), Fluminese and Botafogo. During the tour, Team USA averaged 89 points per game, outscoring its opponents by an average of 33.6 ppg. The team also participated in NBA Cares Clinics for community youth.

Before SUNY Canton, Thompson helped guide NCAA Division II Lincoln Memorial University to the National Championship game in 2015-16. That year, the Railsplitters went 34-3, had an undefeated South Atlantic Conference record and won the SAC Tournament and NCAA Division II Southeast Region. Thompson also coached at his alma mater, Virginia Tech, where he helped the Hokies reach the NCAA Tournament and multiple NIT appearances. He has previous coaching stints at Virginia Military Institute, where he was named one of the Top Five Assistant Coaches in the Southern Conference, as well as stops at UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, and Saint Leo University.

Thompson graduated from St. Paul High School where he played for his father Rick, who won the 1991 VHSL State Championship. He is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). A 2006 graduate of Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Arts in interdisciplinary studies, Thompson completed his Master of Science in physical education with an emphasis in sports promotion in 2007.

The Southwest Virginia native was formally introduced by Director of Athletics Anne Crutchfield at a press conference on Bob Johnson Court on Monday, April 29, 2019. He and his wife Tiffany are members of Emmanuel Baptist Church and reside in Abingdon. The couple welcomed their first child, Joshua Patrick Thompson, to the family in the summer of 2020.

-8/24/23