Gianni Thompson Joins Men’s Basketball Program

Canisius head men's basketball coach Jim Christian announced today (May 24) that Gianni Thompson has committed to join the Golden Griffin men's basketball team for the 2024-25 season. A former member of the men's basketball programs at both UMass and Boston College, Thompson has two years of collegiate eligibility remaining.

A 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward, Thompson started his college career at Boston College during the 2021-22 season, where he played in 19 games for the Eagles. After one season at BC, Thompson transferred to UMass for the 2023-24 campaign, but he did not appear in any games for the Minutemen.

A native of Newton, Mass., Thompson was rated as a four-star recruit and the 116th-best player in the nation by 247Sports.com during his senior year at Brimmer and May School in Chestnut Hill, Mass. In addition to being the top-rated recruit in the state of Massachusetts after the 2020-21 scholastic season, ESPN.com rated him as the 33rd-best forward in the country.

As a junior at Brimmer and May, he averaged 19.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game en route to being named an All-NEPSAC Class AA selection. On the AAU circuit, Thompson played with the Mass Rivals, one of the top AAU programs in the country.

"Gianni is a young man that I have known for a long time," Christian said. "He possesses a great deal of talent and he is hungry for success. He played for one of the best AAU programs in the country, and for winning college programs during his career. His versatility on the court fits our program very well."

With the addition of Thompson to the Griffs' roster, Christian and his coaching staff have now signed nine new players to the Canisius program for the 2024-25 campaign since taking over as the team's head coach on April 8.

Print Friendly Version