(KTNV) — According to a press release, Becky Hammon, the Las Vegas Aces Head Coach, said that they completed the teams coaching staff by hiring coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson for the 2022 WNBA Season.
𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗔𝗦 𝗩𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗦 𝗖𝗧!
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) April 16, 2022
The Aces are excited to announce the hiring of Assistant Coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson.#ALLIN ♦️♠️ pic.twitter.com/CLBZzyr8Yx
“We’re super excited to add Charlene to our Aces family,” Hammon said. “Not only does she bring a wealth of basketball knowledge and experience, she also fits into our core values as a person. I look forward to her working with our post players specifically, but also her positive impact she’ll have on our team overall.”
The Takoma Park, Maryland native was most recently an assistant coach at LSU from 2015-21 under current Aces President Nikki Fargas. While there, she was instrumental in the development of SEC All-Defensive Team members Faustine Aifuwa, whom the Aces selected in the third round of the 2022 WNBA Draft, and 2017 SEC Defensive Player of the Year Raigyne Louis, whom the Aces selected in the third round of the 2018 WNBA Draft. Thomas-Swinson also spent seven seasons in the SEC as an assistant coach at Auburn and Florida.
She won 99 games in her career, and Auburn secured its first-ever SEC regular season championship during her senior season. The Tigers also won the 1987 SEC Tournament title.
Auburn made a trio of NCAA Tournament appearances during Thomas-Swinson’s playing career, highlighted by a NCAA Sweet 16 trip in 1986 and a NCAA Elite Eight run in 1987.
