Samantha Thomas joined the Wolf Pack women's basketball coaching staff as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in 2022. In her first year with the Pack, Thomas helped Loyola claim the SSAC Regular Season title with a 27-3 overall record and 17-1 in conference play, as loyola made the field of the NAIA National Championship tournament for the 10th year in a row. 


Prior to coaching at Loyola, Thomas spent over two years as the owner of Optimal Basketball in Baton Rouge, where she executed marketing and management plans to promote her business, instructed individual and group basketball workout sessions, and built relationships with area athletes and coaches. She also implemented website and social media strategies, provided video services for clients, as well as coached and operated as the General Manager of an AAU team coached by Charlie Domino to help bolster her resume. 

Thomas also was a Fellowship of Christian Athletes Field Representative for 12 schools in Austin, Texas, from September 2019 to January 2021. During that time, she also worked as the Hill Country Indoor Sports & Fitness guest services coordinator, basketball coach and G League Intern for the Austin Spurs. After her playing days at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, Thomas started to gain professional experience by serving as an NBA skills trainer intern and a graduate assistant for the Lady Demons program. 

She trained players like UCONN stars Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, former Indiana Hoosier Nicole Cardano-Hillary, Greg Brown of the Portland Trailblazers and numerous young players in the state of Louisiana.