Candace Thornton Added to Cowgirl Basketball Staff

New UW assistant was previously at Utah Tech

LARAMIE, Wyo. (April 18, 2025) – Wyoming Cowgirl Basketball Head Coach Heather Ezell has announced the addition of Candace Thornton to the Cowgirl coaching staff as an assistant coach.

Thornton has spent the previous three seasons as an assistant at Utah Tech, where she worked primarily with the guards and was the director of Utah Tech summer team camps. Prior to arriving at Utah Tech, Thornton was an assistant coach at College of Idaho. In addition to her college experience, Thornton is the club founder and co-president of the Tree of Hope club team, which is part of the Nike EYBL Circuit. Thornton was with Tree of Hope from 2013 to 2022 and was the 17U National Head Coach for the club.

Before entering the collegiate coaching ranks, Thornton spent six seasons (2016-22) as the head coach at Centennial High School. Thornton, who was the 5A State Coach of the Year in 2017, helped lead the Patriots to an Idaho 5A State Championship.

In her collegiate career, Thornton spent two seasons playing at Northern Colorado before finishing her career at UCCS, where she graduated in 2008 with her degree in communications. Thornton earned her master’s degree in organizational leadership from Colorado State in 2013. Thornton and her husband, Eli, have five children, Sophie, Elin, Sylvie, Dean and Navi.