Aki Thomas, acting head men’s basketball coach at UMBC, has been appointed as the head coach of the program, Dr. Charles Brown, director of athletics, announced today. Thomas has served as acting head coach since Oct. 10, 2012, following five previous seasons as a Retrievers’ assistant coach.

Coach Thomas and his staff have led UMBC to more victories (7) and conference wins (5) than in any season since the 2008-09 campaign, despite the loss of three post players due to injury, including 6’10” starter Brett Roseboro. UMBC’s scoring margin in America East play has improved from -13.6 in 2011-12 to -8.0 currently.

The Retrievers are allowing nearly six less points per game (71.3) than they did in the previous season, despite the loss of the primary interior presence of their defense.