TORONTO, ON (November 3, 2017) - Canada Basketball mourns the loss of Hall of Fame member Dr. Paul "Doc" Thomas, who passed away peacefully on Thursday, November 2, 2017.

The Niagara Falls, ON native began his career as a basketball player and was a four time All-Canadian at the University of Western Ontario.

At only the age of 24, Thomas was a player-coach with the the 1952 National Champion Tillsonburg Livingstons who represented Canada at the Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland.

As head coach of the Windsor Lancers for over 20 years from 1969-1991, Thomas led the team to three OUAA Championships in 1970-71, 1972-73, and 1978-79 and was named CIAU Coach of the Year twice.

Thomas' Lancers made six appearances in the CIAU Championship and in 1993 he was inducted into the OUAA Referees Association Hall of Fame.

In 1972, Thomas coached the Canadian National "B" Team that toured China and two years later, with Thomas behind the bench, Team Canada finished fourth at the World University Games in Moscow, USSR.

Thomas participated in coaching schools and clinics in Norway, Finland, China, USA, Mexico, Belgium, and Poland and contributed to the development of Canada Basketball's National Coaching Certification Program.

Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980.  He was also inducted into the University of Western Ontario Hall of Fame (1983) and University of Windsor Alumni Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 in the category of Administrator/Builder/Coach.

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