Dennis
Thomas Named MEAC Commissioner
August 2, 2002
GREENSBORO, NC-The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has named Dr.
Dennis Thomas as its next commissioner. The announcement was made
by Dr. William B. DeLauder, chair of the Council MEAC Chief Executive
Officers.
 |
Dennis
Thomas |
Thomas will lead the 11-member NCAA Division I conference and
succeeds Charles Harris, who resigned in June after six years
in the position. Thomas has been the Hampton athletics director
since 1990.
“We are very pleased that Dennis has accepted our offer
to lead the conference and to enhance its reputation as
one of the nation’s premier conferences,” said
DeLauder, Delaware State president. “Dennis has
demonstrated outstanding administrative leadership and
we are confident the MEAC will continue to prosper
under his outstanding leadership.”
“I am thrilled and excited with this opportunity to
lead one of the nation’s outstanding conferences, “
Thomas said. “I am very appreciative that the
conference has placed confidence in my ability. I can
only assure you that no other individual in a similar
role will work harder to move the conference forward in
a positive direction.”
Hampton has enjoyed tremendous success under Thomas’s
leadership. On the heels of MEAC football titles in
1997-98, the Pirates have won the last two men’s
basketball titles. A major accomplishment was the
team’s stunning victory in its first-ever playoff
appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Pirates, seeded
No. 15, defeated Iowa State, 58-57. The Cyclones were
the No. 2 seed.
Two years earlier, the women’s basketball captured the
MEAC title and the automatic berth into the NCAA
tournament. Hampton also has claimed the Talmadge Hill
and Mary McLeod Bethune awards for overall excellence
in men’s and women’s sports respectively.
The native of Heidelberg, Mississippi joined Hampton as
chair of the Department of Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance in 1989.
Thomas became affiliated with the MEAC when he was named head
football coach at South Carolina State in 1986. One year later,
he guided the Bulldogs to their first winning season in four years.
Before his stint at S.C. State, Thomas was the
assistant head football coach and defensive coordinator
at Alcorn State from 1985 to 1986. Before that, he was
an assistant coach at Northeast Louisiana State after
graduating form Alcorn State in 1974.
Thomas’s leadership extends to MEAC and NCAA
committees. In the MEAC, he has served as chair of the
basketball tournament committee and chair of the
championship administration committee. He has chaired
the NCAA Division I-AA football committee.
Thomas holds membership in a number of national
organizations. They include National Association of
Collegiate Director of Athletics, National Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development and North
American Society of Sport Management. He is also a
board member of the National Football Foundation and
College Hall of Fame.
Thomas earned a doctorate in physical education from
SUNY Buffalo in 1984.
|
