LOGAN, Utah – Utah State head men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson announced the addition of Thomas Kithier to the team's staff as an assistant coach and video coordinator on Tuesday.
Kithier joins the Aggies after most recently spending the 2025-26 season on staff as an assistant coach at Western Michigan. While in Kalamazoo, he helped lead a Bronco team which ranked among the conference's best in rebounding, finishing fourth in the MAC in overall rebounding and third in offensive rebounding in conference play. WMU also boasted one of the top bench units in the league, with its 28.6 bench points ranking second in the MAC and 42nd nationally. Western Michigan greatly improved its free throw shooting, going from ranking last in the league in 2024-25 to posting the fifth-best free throw percentage (.742) in program history, which included a single-game program record 20 consecutive made free throws in a late-season win at Bowling Green.
Prior to his stint at Western Michigan, Kithier spent two years as an assistant video coordinator/player development coach with the Utah Jazz. With the Jazz, Kithier worked with numerous players, including Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler and Kelly Olynyk. Along with player development, his other duties consisted of scouting reports, analytical projects and pre-draft workouts. During the 2023 and 2024 NBA Summer League, he spent time as an assistant coach for the organization.
Kithier began his coaching career at his alma mater Valparaiso, where he was a graduate assistant for one season after wrapping up his playing career with the Beacons in 2021-22.
An All-State performer in high school, Kithier began his collegiate career at Michigan State, where he played for three seasons. Over the course of his time at MSU, Kithier played in a total of 86 games and made 19 starts. While he was in East Lansing, the Spartans won a pair of Big Ten regular season titles, a Big Ten Tournament title and reached the 2019 Final Four.
For his final collegiate season, Kithier transferred to Valparaiso, where he started 22 games, averaging 10.1 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds while shooting a team-best 56.5 percent from the field. His 6.6 rebounds ranked fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference, and he was a recipient of MVC Scholar-Athlete accolades.
A native of Macomb, Mich., Kithier graduated from Michigan State University in three years with a bachelor's degree in advertising, then received a master's degree in sports administration/media from Valparaiso University.
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