Men's Basketball
Thelen, Jake
Jake Thelen
- Title:
- Director of Basketball Operations
- Email:
- jthelen@sports.uga.edu
- Phone:
- 706-542-1432
Jake Thelen, a former All-American forward at Bellarmine University, joined the UGA staff as director of basketball operations in June 2018. Thelen was 25 when he arrived in Athens, making him the nation’s youngest “DOBO” at a Power 5 school. (He is currently the second-youngest.)
Following a standout playing career, Thelen has developed an equally impressive and proven track record of assisting in recruiting and player development.
While at Indiana, he worked daily with current NBA players OG Anunoby (NBA Champion Toronto Raptors), Thomas Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards) and Juwan Morgan (Utah Jazz).
Thelen’s impact from his tenure as an assistant coach at Bellarmine continues today. He recruited several members of the Knights’ current roster, including a pair of starters who led the team to a second-place finish in the Atlantic Sun Conference in the school’s first official season at the Division I level.
At Georgia, Thelen’s on-campus coordination helped the Bulldogs land a consensus top-10 class in head coach Tom Crean’s first full recruiting cycle. That group was headlined by Anthony Edwards, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and one of six top-100 prospects Georgia has signed during Thelen’s tenure in Athens.
As Director of Basketball Operations, Thelen works in conjunction with the coaching and support staff to ensure that all team-related needs are met. He assists the coaching staff in developing game strategies, breaking down game film, planning practices and contributing in staff meetings. Thelen coordinates the Bulldogs’ daily and weekly basketball calendar and practice schedule, as well as organizes and plans on-campus recruiting visits. Thelen serves as liaison with compliance, academics, facilities, ticket office, business office and equipment personnel and helps oversee the graduate and undergrad managers. He helps coordinate all meals and food for the program, while handling team travel. In addition, Thelen directs both the Tom Crean Basketball camps and coaching clinics the program hosts.
”Jake Thelen came highly recommended to us at Indiana, and I realized quickly that we had a star in the making,” head coach Tom Crean said. ”He’s extremely diligent, organized, focused and competitive. I’m excited that he’ll be touching so many areas of our program.”
Thelen enjoyed a standout career at Bellarmine, graduating from the then-Division II school in 2015. Thelen played professionally for Horsens IC for one season before starting his coaching career. He coached at St. Xavier (Ky.) High School in 2015-16, was a graduate assistant under Crean at Indiana in 2016-17 and was an assistant coach at Bellarmine in 2017-18 before arriving at UGA.
Thelen helped guide Bellarmine to a 29-3 finish in 2017-18. The Knights captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) regular-season and tournament titles and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 10th consecutive campaign.
Thelen was a consensus All-American and was named the GLVC Player of the Year in 2015. Thelen was tabbed first-team All-America by Basketball Times, DII Bulletin, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and BennettRank.com.
The Knights compiled a 31-4 mark during Thelen’s senior season and advanced to the Division II Final Four. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Midwest Regional after racking up 24 points and 15 rebounds against Indianapolis in the Regional final.
Thelen finished ranked No. 16 among Bellarmine’s career scoring leaders with 1,412 points in three seasons. As a senior, he posted the second-highest point (651) and rebound (375) tallies in school history to average a double-double of 18.6 ppg and 10.7 rpg. In 2013-14, Thelen connected on a school-record 74.0 percent of his shots from the field.
Thelen started every game of his three seasons at Bellarmine as the Knights compiled a 78-20 record, reached the ”Sweet 16” of the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and advanced to the Final Four in 2015.
Thelen played one season at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., before transferring to Bellarmine. There he averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds was the Southern States Conference Freshman of the Year.
A native of Edgewood, Ky., Thelen starred at Covington Catholic High School, where he was selected to play in both the Kentucky/Indiana and the Kentucky/Ohio All-Star games.
Thelen received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bellarmine in 2015. He is the son of Ashley and Jon Thelen and the oldest of siblings Hannah (25), Heidi (23), Grace (21) and Nick (20).
Following a standout playing career, Thelen has developed an equally impressive and proven track record of assisting in recruiting and player development.
While at Indiana, he worked daily with current NBA players OG Anunoby (NBA Champion Toronto Raptors), Thomas Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards) and Juwan Morgan (Utah Jazz).
Thelen’s impact from his tenure as an assistant coach at Bellarmine continues today. He recruited several members of the Knights’ current roster, including a pair of starters who led the team to a second-place finish in the Atlantic Sun Conference in the school’s first official season at the Division I level.
At Georgia, Thelen’s on-campus coordination helped the Bulldogs land a consensus top-10 class in head coach Tom Crean’s first full recruiting cycle. That group was headlined by Anthony Edwards, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and one of six top-100 prospects Georgia has signed during Thelen’s tenure in Athens.
As Director of Basketball Operations, Thelen works in conjunction with the coaching and support staff to ensure that all team-related needs are met. He assists the coaching staff in developing game strategies, breaking down game film, planning practices and contributing in staff meetings. Thelen coordinates the Bulldogs’ daily and weekly basketball calendar and practice schedule, as well as organizes and plans on-campus recruiting visits. Thelen serves as liaison with compliance, academics, facilities, ticket office, business office and equipment personnel and helps oversee the graduate and undergrad managers. He helps coordinate all meals and food for the program, while handling team travel. In addition, Thelen directs both the Tom Crean Basketball camps and coaching clinics the program hosts.
”Jake Thelen came highly recommended to us at Indiana, and I realized quickly that we had a star in the making,” head coach Tom Crean said. ”He’s extremely diligent, organized, focused and competitive. I’m excited that he’ll be touching so many areas of our program.”
Thelen enjoyed a standout career at Bellarmine, graduating from the then-Division II school in 2015. Thelen played professionally for Horsens IC for one season before starting his coaching career. He coached at St. Xavier (Ky.) High School in 2015-16, was a graduate assistant under Crean at Indiana in 2016-17 and was an assistant coach at Bellarmine in 2017-18 before arriving at UGA.
Thelen helped guide Bellarmine to a 29-3 finish in 2017-18. The Knights captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) regular-season and tournament titles and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 10th consecutive campaign.
Thelen was a consensus All-American and was named the GLVC Player of the Year in 2015. Thelen was tabbed first-team All-America by Basketball Times, DII Bulletin, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and BennettRank.com.
The Knights compiled a 31-4 mark during Thelen’s senior season and advanced to the Division II Final Four. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Midwest Regional after racking up 24 points and 15 rebounds against Indianapolis in the Regional final.
Thelen finished ranked No. 16 among Bellarmine’s career scoring leaders with 1,412 points in three seasons. As a senior, he posted the second-highest point (651) and rebound (375) tallies in school history to average a double-double of 18.6 ppg and 10.7 rpg. In 2013-14, Thelen connected on a school-record 74.0 percent of his shots from the field.
Thelen started every game of his three seasons at Bellarmine as the Knights compiled a 78-20 record, reached the ”Sweet 16” of the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and advanced to the Final Four in 2015.
Thelen played one season at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., before transferring to Bellarmine. There he averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds was the Southern States Conference Freshman of the Year.
A native of Edgewood, Ky., Thelen starred at Covington Catholic High School, where he was selected to play in both the Kentucky/Indiana and the Kentucky/Ohio All-Star games.
Thelen received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bellarmine in 2015. He is the son of Ashley and Jon Thelen and the oldest of siblings Hannah (25), Heidi (23), Grace (21) and Nick (20).
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