Coach Jerry Thomason
B.S. Ouachita Baptist University
M.S. University of Arkansas
Veteran Coach Jerry Thomason returns for his 21st season at the helm of the North Arkansas College Men's basketball program, making him the longest tenured men's college basketball coach in the state of Arkansas. During Thomason's 20 years at Northark he has led the program to 294 wins and most recently, four consecutive Regional Championships. The Valley Springs native brought his style of basketball to Northark after a very successful 13-year career at Valley Springs High School where his teams won one state championship, two state runner-ups, two state semi-finalists, one state quarter-finalist, and numerous regional and conference honors. Thomason has served on several all-star staffs and has received various coaching awards on both the high school and college levels. The four-year basketball letterman played for the legendary NAIA and Arkansas Sports Hall of Famer, Bill Vining, at Ouachita Baptist University. During his playing days at OBU, the Tigers captured two District 17 titles and advanced to the prestigious NAIA National Tournament. He also lettered three years in baseball and bowling for the Tigers.
Thomason graduated cum laude from Ouachita with a BSE in math and physics in 1974. In 1982, Coach Thomason received his MA in mathematics from the University of Arkansas. His wife, Janet, has recently retired from teaching high school math at Valley Springs. They have two daughters. Laura, a graduate and former cheerleader at Northark, and a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, is employed at Pace Industries in Harrison, and is married to Jared Avery who is employed at FedEx. Alice, also a graduate and former cheerleader at North Arkansas College, and a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas and Baptist School of Allied Health, and lives in Harrison. She is married to Kyle Johnson, also a graduate and All-Region baseball player at North Arkansas, who is employed as a pharmacist at WalMart in Harrison. Coach Thomason and Janet have four grandchildren. Chloe and Logan Avery, ages 5 and 1, and Maddax (Dax) and Ava Johnson, ages 3 and 1, who all enjoy watching the Pioneer games.