On November 15, 2022, Mike Thibault finally stepped aside as the Washington Mystics head coach. Now, he has a new job. Instead of patrolling the sideline, he sits with his wife and watches their son succeed him. But, it isn’t just the proud father who is happy about Eric Thibault taking over the throne of Mystics head coach.

In fact, the Mystics feel quite familiar with Eric. “One’s younger, one’s older. One has gray hair, one doesn’t. One wears glasses, one doesn’t,” says Washington Mystics forward Myisha Hines-Allen. What a proud moment, right? Read on to dive deeper into the unknown facts about Mike Thibault’s coach son.

Eric Thibault’s journey to Washington Mystics

Eric Thibault is one of the two children of Mike and his wife Nanci. For him, he had only one goal while growing up: to follow in his father’s footsteps. So, he started off with his aim right from the beginning. During his graduation at the University of Missouri, he opted to be a practice player for the Missouri Tiger Women’s basketball team.

After staying there for three seasons, he finally got the opportunity. He moved from practice player to graduate assistant with the Tigers. After a year, he switched to Kim Barnes Arico and the St. John’s Red Storm women’s basketball teams. For him, it wasn’t going as planned until his first dream role knocked on the door. He was recruited as an assistant coach for the VCU Rams Women’s basketball team.

And this paved a path for him to get into the WNBA. In May of 2013, Eric Thibault took over the position of assistant coach for the Washington Mystics, a team where his father was head coach. Before his father’s retirement, both the boys were on the same team, there was nothing to hold the Mystics back from reviving.

How does the legacy of leadership get its wings?

Over the upcoming seven seasons, the Mystics only missed the playoffs once in 2016. Under the guidance of the father-son duo, the Mystics saw only an upsurge in their growth. Ahead of 2017, the team acquired 2015 MVP, Elena Delle Donne. And it turned out to be in favor of the Mystics as the 6-foot-5 led the team to a championship win in 2019.

While the Mystics counted on their massive feat, Eric Thibault got his promotion to associate head coach in 2019. For the next two years, he stayed in this position, acquiring all that he could from his coach father. Now, it was time for Mike’s retirement and a quest for the Mystics to find someone to fill his throne.

And the search ended up at Eric Thibault. While his father retired from the Mystics, Eric took up the position of Mystics head coach. But, Eric isn’t the only person keeping up with the family legacy. In fact, his sister Carly Thibault is also head coach at Fairfield University. However, the family pride does not end here!

Despite retiring from the Mystics head coach position, Mike Thibault will be guiding Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Thibault, alongside Joni Taylor, Kara Lawson, Cheryl Reeve, and Team USA would be on the quest for its eighth consecutive Olympic gold. Now the question is: will they be able to sail Team USA towards gold in Paris? Stay tuned to find out!

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.