Wheaton College IL Men's Basketball

Jon Panner returns for his 16th season as an assistant coach of the Wheaton men's basketball team in 2025-26, with the 2016-17 campaign marking his first year as a full-time assistant for the Thunder after spending six years as a part-time coach. Panner was promoted to the role of Wheaton's associate head men's basketball coach prior to the 2022-23 season. Panner is a 2007 graduate of the University of Texas with a BBA in Marketing. He was a varsity assistant coach and JV head coach at Regents School of Austin in Austin, Texas during the 2007-08 season. In 2006, he interned with the San Antonio Spurs in their Marketing Promotions Department. Jon and his wife, Lauren, currently reside in Wheaton with their son, Liam, and daughter, Finley.

Timothy Watts joined the Wheaton basketball coaching staff following the start of the 2023-24 season and is returning in 2024-25 to serve his first full season as a Thunder assistant. Following high school, Watts volunteered as an assistant coach at his alma mater before going on to attend Grove City College, where he was a member of the men’s basketball team during his freshman year. After graduation, he led high school skill sessions and coached a 10th-grade travel team with Pro Skills Basketball (AAU) in Nashville, Tennessee before moving to Chicago to pursue a career as an Athletic Director and youth coach in 2021. Timothy now lives in Wheaton.