Macalester College Athletics

Ellen Thompson was hired in 2005 as the head women's basketball coach at Macalester College and is in her ninth year in charge of the program. Thompson was a former assistant coach and basketball standout at nearby University of St. Thomas.

It didn't take long to begin the rebuilding process and following her second season at Macalester was named 2006-07 MIAC Coach of the Year. The Scots improved their win total four years in a row after Coach Thompson basically rebuilt the program from scratch.  She was also selected MIAC Coach of The Year in 2010-2011.

Thompson has extensive and successful experiences in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and in the Twin Cities metro area.

A 1991 St. Thomas graduate and a captain of the '91 UST national championship team, Thompson was a teacher and head girls basketball coach at Hopkins (Minn.) High School from 1992-98. Before that she was head girls coach at Morris (Minn.) High School for one year. She served at her alma mater as assistant women's basketball coach from 1998-2005. At Hopkins she was 82-40 in six seasons as head coach, helping build the foundation for one of the state's top programs, while St. Thomas went 135-54 with her on the bench as an assistant.

A four-year varsity letter-winner, she ranks in the top-ten on the all-time St. Thomas career list for assists, rebounds and steals. She capped her excellent four-year career with an NCAA Division III championship.