Women's basketball announces new assistant coach

Even though it’s the off-season, the women’s basketball program is making big moves.
On June 27, IU acquired former University of Tulsa head coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson.

She will serve under IU women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack as assistant coach. She will take office on July 1.

Thomas-Swinson’s previous head coaching experience also includes St. John’s, and she also worked as an assistant with the Orlando Miracle, the University of Florida and her alma mater, Auburn University.

The two coaches were friends before they recently became co-workers.

Thomas-Swinson played college basketball at Auburn from 1984-87, while IU women’s head coach Legette-Jack was at Syracuse for part of that time.

“She brought me in for an interview, I had never been to Bloomington,” Thomas-Swinson said. “Out of all the places I’ve been and competed, I’d never been to IU’s campus.”

When she arrived on campus, Thomas-Swinson met with Athletics Director Fred Glass and IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean.

She said that excited her because there are many places where the men’s coach will not interact so freely with the women’s side.

“There are a lot of universities you can go to where it’s just not that way,” she said.
When asked about what she could do to help the women’s team improve, Thomas-Swinson answered with fundamentals.

“What you see on game day is kind of the end result of all the development work,” she said. “It’s kind of like that same commitment of studying, you just don’t come and take an exam, there’s preparation you have to have to get that A.”

Even though she arrives in Bloomington with six years of head coaching experience — including being C-USA’s Coach of the Year in 2006 — Thomas-Swinson said she has no problem deferring to Legette-Jack.

“I’m just at her disposal,” she said. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes in reference to the preparation of these young ladies and committed to making them as well rounded as they can be and help them grow as student athletes.”