Will Thomas (basketball)

Will Thomas
Personal information
Born (1986-07-01) July 1, 1986 (age 38)
Baltimore, Maryland, US
Nationality
  • American
  • Georgian
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High schoolMount Saint Joseph
(Baltimore, Maryland)
CollegeGeorge Mason (2004–2008)
NBA draft2008: undrafted
Playing career2008–2024
PositionPower forward
Number0, 5, 6, 10, 34
Career history
2008–2010Liege
2010–2011Oostende
2011–2012Armia
2012–2013Karşıyaka
2013–2014Felice Scandone
2014–2016Unicaja Málaga
2016–2019Valencia
2019–2021Zenit
2021–2022AS Monaco Basket
2022–2024Unicaja Málaga
Career highlights and awards

William Benson Thomas (born July 1, 1986) is a retired American-Georgian professional basketball player. Throughout his career, he won the EuroCup and the Champions League as well as the Spanish championship.[1] He is former college basketball player for George Mason University. He also holds a Georgian passport.

College career

As a starter in his sophomore year, Thomas was part of the 2005-06 George Mason Final Four team. During his college career, Thomas was named to the Colonial Athletic Association's All-CAA second team in 2007 and first team in 2008. He was named to the CAA All-Defensive Team for the three straight seasons. In his senior season, he was the runner-up for both the CAA Player of the Year and CAA Defensive Player of the Year. [2]

Professional career

After graduating from George Mason University in the spring of 2008, Thomas was picked to be part of the Washington Wizards summer league roster.[3] He was cut from the team and shortly after signed with Belgacom Liege of the Belgian League. He signed a contract with BC Oostende after playing with Belgacom Liege for 2 years.

For the 2011–12 season, he signed a contract with BC Armia from Georgia. He helped them win the Georgian Cup.

In July 2012, he signed a contract with Pınar Karşıyaka of the Turkish Basketball League. On August 26, 2013, he signed a contract with an Italian league basketball team, Sidigas Avellino.[4]

On July 22, 2014, Thomas signed a one-year deal with the Spanish team Unicaja.[5] In his first EuroLeague season, he averaged 6.9 points and 4.5 rebounds over 24 games played.

On July 14, 2016, he signed a two-year deal with Spanish club Valencia Basket.[6] On July 27, 2018, he signed a one-year contract extension with Valencia Basket, until the end of the 2018–19 season.[7]

On August 7, 2019, Thomas signed with Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League and the EuroLeague.

On July 14, 2021, he signed with BC UNICS of the VTB United League.[8] On September 2, 2021, his contract was terminated.[9] Thomas signed with AS Monaco Basket of the LNB Pro A on September 11.[10]

On July 15, 2022, he signed with Unicaja of the Liga ACB.[11] Thomas retired from professional basketball in July 2024.[1]

Records

Thomas is George Mason University's eighth all-time point scorer with 1,564, the third all-time rebounder in men's basketball history with 993 rebounds and has the most games played in team history with 131.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2014–15 Málaga 24 14 20.6 .511 .286 .727 4.5 .9 .3 .1 6.9 9.1
2015–16 24 15 23.0 .429 .212 .833 4.6 1.2 .6 .1 8.1 10.1
2017–18 Valencia 30 23 23.6 .473 .288 .744 3.6 1.1 .8 .1 6.2 8.1
2019–20 Zenit 27 21 27.9 .507 .342 .759 3.9 1.4 1.0 .1 10.3 13.1
2020–21 39 39* 26.4 .542 .419 .897 4.9 1.4 .7 .2 9.3 13.4
2021–22 Monaco 35 28 27.4 .581 .408 .862 4.2 1.1 .6 .1 7.5 10.3
Career 179 140 25.1 .511 .335 .819 4.3 1.2 .7 .1 8.1 10.8

References

  1. ^ a b "BCL & EuroCup champ Will Thomas retires". Eurohoops. July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  2. ^ http://gomason.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/thomas_will00.html Player Bio: Will Thomas
  3. ^ http://www.nba.com/summerleague2008/team/index.jsp?team=wizards Wizards Summer League roster
  4. ^ "Sidigas Avellino officially sign Will Thomas". Sportando.net. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  5. ^ "Unicaja adds power in Thomas". Euroleague.net. July 22, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  6. ^ "Valencia signs Will Thomas to a two-year deal". July 14, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  7. ^ "Will Thomas signs One-Year extensión with Valencia Basket". www.valenciabasket.com. July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  8. ^ "UNICS Kazan officially parts ways with Will Thomas". Sportando. July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  9. ^ "Will Thomas joins Unics Kazan". Sportando. September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  10. ^ Obradovic, Igor (September 11, 2021). "Monaco adds Thomas to their roster". Eurobasket. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  11. ^ "Will Thomas vuelve al Unicaja / Web Oficial del Unicaja Baloncesto". www.unicajabaloncesto.com. Retrieved July 16, 2022.