Alejandro Ali Thomas

My Story

San Francisco Native Saint Ignatius Wildcat San Francisco Don Alejandro started to fall in love with basketball while playing with his friends at Portolo Rec, Upper Noe, and Potreo Hill. Playing on his first team Portolo Rec, competing across the city vs other Rec centers. 7th and 8th grade playing CYO basketball for Saint Paul's. 8th grade year suiting up for Martin Luther King middle school. That summer playing for the Potreo Hill all stars. A team which combined all the best players in the city and competed in the Pacific AAU and National AAU tournaments. His high school basketball career began at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory becoming one of a handful of players to play on the varsity as a freshman. He spent four years as a Varsity member playing for Legendary coach Don Lippi and dedicated his summers to work SI’s basketball camps. After graduating in 1997, Alejandro earned a scholarship to study and play basketball at the University of San Francisco. Some USF career highlights include that Alejandro was named WCC Freshman of the Year, he is all-time three point leader (237), all-time three point attempts leader (642), single season three point record (75) holder, 5th in games played (118), 6th in assists (334), 20th all-time scoring (1237), played in 118 of possible 118 games, and was part of the team that earned a 1998 NCAA tournament berth. While at USF, he worked camps for Phil Galvin, who founded Super Skills Basketball. Alejandro majored in Sociology. Alejandro went on to play basketball in Europe from 2001 to 2011, living in Germany, Slovakia, and Ukraine. He retired from professional basketball in 2011 and shifted his passion to coaching. He is recognized and respected for his work with young adults as a coach and mentor, teaching not only basketball but life skills. Alejandro is well-known in San Francisco working for The Olympic Club’s Basketball which is one of the best in the Bay Area. Concurrently, he has coached basketball at numerous schools in San Francisco, including Town School for Boys, Brandeis Hillel Day School, The Hamlin School, and Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. He specializes in personal skills training for individuals as well as small groups. He resides in Oakland with his wife Ramika.