There have been Thibaults in the NBA, Thibaults in the WNBA, Thibaults at the Olympics …

Now, you can add the NCAA women’s basketball tournament to the list.

Eric Thibault of East Lyme, whose dad Mike is the head coach of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun and has an extensive coaching resume, leaves today for Palo Alto, Calif., with the St. John’s women’s basketball team. Thibault is a graduate assistant on the coaching staff for the Red Storm (21-10), the No. 9 seed in the Spokane Region, which meets No. 8 Texas Tech (22-10) at 4:20 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that game will meet No. 1 Stanford on Monday.

Thibault watched the NCAA selection show with the team this week.

“The kids were really excited. It’s rewarding your team for all their hard work … and the coaches,” Eric said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “I’m happy, too, for all the players, especially the seniors. This is their last trip around.”

Thibault said the staff has been watching video tape of Texas Tech.

He is currently pursuing his graduate degree at St. John’s in sports management after a year as a grad assistant at Missouri, his alma mater.

Thibault is joined in the postseason by his younger sister, Carly, a former standout for East Lyme. Carly Thibault is a 5-foot-5 junior guard at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J. Monmouth (23-9) plays at Syracuse tonight in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. The Hawks fell just short of the NCAA, reaching the championship game of the Northeast Conference tournament.

“They’re all disappointed they didn’t win the championship,” Eric said. “The NIT is great, too. This is her first time in the postseason, too.”

Thibault works with his father during the summer and will serve an internship with the Sun this year.

“You see with pro coaches, how much time they put into scouting, how hard good coaches work all the time at it,” Eric said when I interviwed him at the Big East tournament, speaking of what he’s learned with the Sun.

He said he and his dad work well together.

“We see things pretty similarly most of the time,” Eric said. “My mom was amazed at how well it’s worked.”

He added that for students of the game who wish to pursue coaching, as he is, there’s always something for them to do to stay involved in the game.

“Managers, student interns, a bunch of things,” he said. “Then somebody sees your work ethic and doors open.”