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.
_0_Valencia_Basket_20171102_(2)_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 1, 1986 Baltimore, Maryland, US |
| Nationality |
|
| Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Mount Saint Joseph (Baltimore, Maryland) |
| College | George Mason (2004–2008) |
| NBA draft | 2008: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2008–2024 |
| Position | Power forward |
| Number | 0, 5, 6, 10, 34 |
| Career history | |
| 2008–2010 | Liege |
| 2010–2011 | Oostende |
| 2011–2012 | Armia |
| 2012–2013 | Karşıyaka |
| 2013–2014 | Felice Scandone |
| 2014–2016 | Unicaja Málaga |
| 2016–2019 | Valencia |
| 2019–2021 | Zenit |
| 2021–2022 | AS Monaco Basket |
| 2022–2024 | Unicaja Málaga |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
College career
editAs 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
editAfter 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
editThomas 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
edit| 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
edit| 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
edit- ^ a b "BCL & EuroCup champ Will Thomas retires". Eurohoops. July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
- ^ http://gomason.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/thomas_will00.html Player Bio: Will Thomas
- ^ http://www.nba.com/summerleague2008/team/index.jsp?team=wizards Wizards Summer League roster
- ^ "Sidigas Avellino officially sign Will Thomas". Sportando.net. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- ^ "Unicaja adds power in Thomas". Euroleague.net. July 22, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ "Valencia signs Will Thomas to a two-year deal". July 14, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
- ^ "Will Thomas signs One-Year extensión with Valencia Basket". www.valenciabasket.com. July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
- ^ "UNICS Kazan officially parts ways with Will Thomas". Sportando. July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
- ^ "Will Thomas joins Unics Kazan". Sportando. September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ^ Obradovic, Igor (September 11, 2021). "Monaco adds Thomas to their roster". Eurobasket. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
- ^ "Will Thomas vuelve al Unicaja / Web Oficial del Unicaja Baloncesto". www.unicajabaloncesto.com. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
External links
edit- Will Thomas at acb.com (in Spanish)
- Will Thomas at draftexpress.com
- Will Thomas at eurobasket.com
- Will Thomas at euroleague.net
- Will Thomas at tblstat.net