BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NEW YORK---St. Francis (NY) head women’s basketball coach Brenda Milano named John Thurston as an assistant coach on her 2010-11 staff. Thurston will begin his 38th overall season on the sidelines after spending the past two seasons at Fordham University.
"I am thrilled to have John be part of our staff, “says Milano. "His experience as a coach and teacher is unparalleled. With his years in coaching, he is an outstanding basketball technician who will be a important asset to the growth of our student athletes and the program.”
Thurston is one of only a few coaches who has been a Head Coach at the NCAA DI, DII, DIII and NAIA levels in 26 years of coaching men's college basketball from 1971-1997. During the early 1970's, Thurston's Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham teams were known for their high scoring offense, averaging almost 100 points per game.
During the following ten years as an assistant and three as Head Coach at James Madison University, the Dukes went to four NCAA tournaments and one NIT. For his tremendous efforts in the 1986-87 season, Thurston was named the Colonial Athletic Association "Coach of the Year."
In nine years at Wingate University he served the dual role of Athletic Director and Head Basketball Coach and is credited with moving the athletic department from NAIA status to nationally competitive NCAA DII affiliation.
From 2001-2003 Thurston held the position of General Manager at Atlanta's Suwanee Sports Academy establishing widely respected basketball training programs and bringing national events such as the adidas Showtime Championships and adidas Top Ten All-Star game to the Atlanta area.
After four years on the high school level, he returned to collegiate coaching in the fall of 2003 on Ann Hancock's UNC-Wilmington staff and has been involved with the women's game for seven years on both the major and small college levels.
Thurston spent some time at Northwood University in West Palm Beach, Fla. At Northwood he developed the school’s first ever women's basketball program. In their first two seasons of competition, the Seahawks, with twelve freshmen won back to back conference championships and had an appearance at the NAIA National Championships in Sioux City, Iowa. Thurston was named Florida Sun Conference "Coach of the Year" in 2008. In two years his recruits garnered two "Player's of the Year," one "Rookie of the Year" and six All-Conference awards.
Thurston has gained respect through the years as an evaluator and developer of talent, ranging from NBA players, six overall NBA draft choices, seven European professionals, four "Rookies of the Year", three "Players of the Year", one "Defensive Player of the Year", eighteen All-Conference selections, three 2000 pt. scorers and eight 1000 pt scorers.
A 1966 graduate of Archbishop Molloy High School he was an All-City performer in both baseball and basketball and was a 1966 draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He continued his education at Seton Hall University where he played both baseball and basketball and was awarded the John F Kennedy Award in 1970 for the school's outstanding student-athlete. He and his wife, Candice, have been married for 39 years and have two daughters, Clancy and Corey and three grandchildren, Jack, Rhone, Luke.