Greensboro Day School Hires Alumna to Lead Girls’ Varsity Basketball Team
Greensboro Day School (GDS) has hired Tamera Thorpe as its next Head Coach of the Girls’ Varsity Basketball Team. Thorpe served as an assistant coach on the 2020-21 team. Thorpe takes over a team that finished with a record of 16-6, was co-champion of the Piedmont Triad Athletic Conference (PTAC), and made it to the Final Four of the NCISAA 4A State playoffs. The team will return eight players and look to build on their success from last season.
Thorpe shared her excitement about being named the Head Coach in saying, “I’m blessed to have this opportunity! It feels great to be back on my old stomping ground, except this time as a Head Coach. I’m most looking forward to mentoring and working with each player to build them into a complete student-athlete as they navigate the unpredictable college recruiting process. I’m excited to be working side-by-side with Coach Vanessa Johnson. We’re anxious to move forward and start building a strong girls’ basketball program.”
Thorpe is a 2015 graduate of Greensboro Day School and a 2019 graduate of the University of North Georgia. Thorpe will complete her Master’s of Science in Management of Aging Services at the University of Massachusetts Boston next month.
Thorpe currently holds numerous Greensboro Day School girls’ basketball records, including most points scored in a game (38), most field goals made in a game (14), most free throws made in a game (14), and most 3-point shots made in a game (5). She also holds the girls’ single-season record for points scored in a season (568) and is also Greensboro Day School’s all-time leading scorer (boys’ or girls’) with a total of 2,248 points. While at GDS, Thorpe also was a member of the track team and holds the school record for the 4×100 relay, set in 2013. GDS retired Tamera’s #15 jersey on December 13, 2019, the first girls’ basketball jersey to be retired by the school.
As a junior at GDS, Thorpe made the Regional Super 60 selection, and as a senior, she was named to the Top 100 National Prospect List. She was named All-Conference and All-State three times. Thorpe participated in the 2014-15 North Carolina Private School All-Star Game and was a McDonald’s All-American Nominee. As a senior, she averaged 22.7 points, 4.5 steals and 4.4 rebounds per game. She helped lead the girls’ team to appearances in the NCISAA State Championship Game in 2012 and 2014.
Thorpe began her college basketball career at USC Upstate, where she averaged just over 8ppg shooting 45.2 from the field during her 3 seasons with the Spartans. She was named ASUN Player of the Week multiple times. She transferred to the University of North Georgia for her senior season, where she was named a 2018-19 Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll Bronze Scholar, led the team to the 2019 NCAA All-Southeast Region Tournament Team, and was named Nighthawk of the Week 3 times.
Following her playing career, Thorpe spent 1 season as a graduate assistant at the University of North Georgia.
Thorpe has retained Assistant Coach, Vanessa Williams, on the staff.
Greensboro Day School continues to provide the most dynamic, comprehensive academic environment in the Triad, now serving students age 2 through 12th grade. Our mission is to develop the intellectual, ethical, and interpersonal foundations students need to be constructive contributors to the world.
A bit of a blast from the past….(Interview with Tamera Thorpe, at the old Shane’s Rib Shack.)