Story Courtesy Dartmouth Athletics:
Rick Bender

Dartmouth men’s basketball head coach David McLaughlin today announced the hiring of Will Thoni as an assistant coach. Thoni comes to Dartmouth following nine years at Davidson College as a student manager, walk-on player and staff member.

“We are thrilled to welcome Will to our program, and I am excited to start working with him,” McLaughlin said. “He brings a passion and energy that will instantly allow him to build relationships with our players as well as within the Dartmouth community. During his time at Davidson, Will gained experience in many different areas that allowed him to impact the program each day. His intrinsic motivation, creativity, selfless mindset and willingness to work at his craft will allow him to have an immediate impact for our program!”

During his five years on the staff with the Wildcats, Thoni began as the assistant for program development before earning a promotion as the director of student-athlete development. Last year, the Tennessee native served as the director of basketball operations, organizing and monitoring the recruiting database, assisting in all aspects of player relations and coordinating all travel logistics for the team. He also served as the lead scout for 31 of Davidson’s contests in his five seasons.

Thoni joined the staff for the program’s first year in the Atlantic-10  Conference, and he helped the team advance to the NCAA Tournament twice, the NIT two other years, win a conference tournament and a regular-season title, and post a record of 106-58 overall (.646) and 59-31 (.656) in league play. Three Wildcats were named the A-10 Player of the Year, another the Rookie of the Year, and nine earned All-A-10 honors with five making the first team.

“Will’s passion to work towards excellence and his fundamentally sound understanding of the game will be clearly evident as he accepts this new challenge in his coaching journey,” said Bob McKillop, Davidson’s head coach for the past 30 years. “I’m so happy that he’ll be working for a terrific head coach like Dave and at a superb school like Dartmouth.”

Thoni graduated from Davidson in 2014 with a degree in sociology and spent three years as a team manager before earning a spot on the team as a walk-on as a senior. He played in 10 games on a team that went 15-1 in the Southern Conference and earned an NIT bid. He also spent time with USA Basketball as a special assistant for various teams (U17 men’s, World University Games and Pan Am Games), plus acted as the director for the Bob McKillop Basketball Camp last summer that had 40 coaches and 270 campers over three sessions.

“I am very excited for the opportunity to work with Coach McLaughlin at Dartmouth,” Thoni said. “He has a strong track record of building programs and developing players. I am so thankful for the past nine years as a member of Coach McKillop’s program at Davidson and the invaluable experience gained playing and working for him and his staff. I’m thrilled to begin working with our student-athletes at Dartmouth and to join this great community. Dartmouth is one of the most prestigious colleges in the world and I am grateful for this opportunity.”