- Deshaun Thomas
-
Deshaun Thomas College Ohio State University Conference Big Ten Sport Basketball Position Small forward Jersey # 1 Class Sophomore Height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Weight 230 lb (104 kg) Nationality American High school Bishop Luers High School,
Fort Wayne, INDeshaun Thomas (born 1991) graduated high school as a highly-regarded five-star player who verbally committed to play basketball in college for the Ohio State University Buckeyes when he was still a high school freshman.[1] Thomas was also recruited by in-state powers Indiana University and Purdue University.[citation needed] As a junior on November 11, 2008, Thomas formalized his decision by signing a letter of intent with the Buckeyes.[2] With a love for the game that matches his tremendous talents, Thomas hopes one day to attain his dreams of playing in the NBA.[3]
Contents
Early life
Even as a young man, the basketball prospects of Thomas were apparent to those who knew him. As a 5th-grade student at Northcrest Elementary School in Fort Wayne, IN, Thomas' height had already surpassed many of his teachers. As a middle-schooler at Northwood Middle School, Thomas led the school's basketball team to back-to-back Fort Wayne middle school championships.[4][5]
High school career
Thomas attended Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he was ranked as one of the top basketball players in the nation for the class of 2010. As a sophomore and then again as a junior, he led the Bishop Luers Knights to back-to-back Class 2A Indiana state championships.[6] His 34 points and 15 rebounds in 2009 each stand as the second best ever in the class 2A state championship game.[7]
Prior to Thomas, the Knights had never won a Summit Athletic Conference Holiday Basketball Tournament, and their overall history in the tournament still stands as the worst record of all-time. However, in 2007-2009, Thomas led the Knights to back-to-back-to-back three-peat tournament titles as a sophomore, junior and senior.[8]
Thomas was a prolific scorer throughout his high school career. Thomas finished his career ranked 3rd best all-time among all Indiana high school boys basketball players and 4th best all-time when considering both boys and girls.
As a freshman, Thomas orally committed to play for coach Thad Matta at the Ohio State University. For the season, Thomas averaged 28.95 points per game, finishing second in the state behind the 28.96 average of former Indiana Hoosier Eric Gordon.
As a senior, Thomas and his Luers teammates traveled to Columbus, Ohio to participate in the 2010 Ohio Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic, a seven-game showcase featuring high school teams of players recruited by Ohio State and other Division I universities. Luers draw in the program was the feature game of the year’s classic, against the nation's #1-rated high school team, Columbus Northland High School, coincidentally from the Buckeyes' home town. Northland featured two Buckeye recruits - Jared Sullinger, last year's Ohio Mr. Basketball and the #1 high school recruit in the nation; and J.D. Weatherspoon. A fourth OSU recruit, Jordan Sibert, also played in the classic. This four-man coupe are key reasons the Buckeyes had what some say was the #1 recruiting class for 2010.[9][10] Although Northland won the game 88-67, Thomas led all scorers with 36 points. Sullinger contributed 24 points to Northland's total, and Weatherspoon added 8 points with output stunted due to foul trouble.[11][12][13]
On February 11, 2010, Thomas played his last home basketball game for Bishop Luers. At that Senior Night game, it was announced to the fans that Thomas had been selected to the roster of the 2010 McDonald's All-American Boys Game. The game was be played March 31, 2010 at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, home court of the Ohio State Buckeyes.[14][15] Joining Thomas on the game's roster were Sullinger and Ray McCallum Jr, a star guard from Detroit Country Day. Bishop Luers had played the McCallum-led Country Day earlier in Thomas' senior season.
On February 18, 2010, Thomas was named as a participant in Nike's 2010 Jordan Brand Classic, to be played April 17, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[16]
On February 24, 2010, it was announced that Thomas was one of six finalists being considered for the 2010 Naismith Award, a prestigious honor given annually by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the high school boys basketball player of the year. The 2010 recipient was future teammate Jared Sullinger.[17][18]
On March 13, 2010, Thomas and the Bishop Luers Knights lost 70-68 in a stunning upset to the Southwood Knights in the regional tournament opening round. Thomas ended his high school career with 3,018 points, just the third player in Indiana boys basketball to reach the 3000 point level. The total fell just one point short of tying second place holder Marion Pierce.
On March 25, 2010, it was announced that Thomas was one of 26 players named to the Associated Press' Indiana All-Century team, a special team selected in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Indiana high school basketball tournament.[19]
On March 29, 2010, it was announced that Thomas was selected as a first-team member of the 2010 Parade All-American team.[20]
The culmination of Thomas' career came April 3, 2010 when he was named recipient of the 2010 Indiana Mr. Basketball award.[21]
On April 9, 2010, the Associated Press announced that Thomas had been named to their 1st-team Indiana high school All-State team. Thomas was the leading vote-getter among all honorees. The award marked the fourth time in his high school career that Thomas had been named a member of the team and the third straight time he was a 1st-team selection.[22] Days later, Thomas was named as the first three-time winner of the Tiffany Gooden award, given annually to the best basketball player in the Summit Athletic Conference.
On May 21, 2010, in a ceremony at Bishop Luers, Thomas' #1 jersey was retired by the school. This was the first time in school history a jersey of any of its athletes had been retired.[23]
On June 11–12, 2010, Thomas led the Indiana All-stars in a pair of games against cross-border rivals from Kentucky. Thomas played a significant role in the Indiana sweep of the two game series. He scored 18 points and added 13 rebounds as Indiana won the first game in Kentucky, and he scored a game-high 28 points and picked up 12 rebounds in the following night's victory in Indianapolis.
High School 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 Bold Career high Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 2006–07 Freshman 23 .500 .260 .730 13.3 2.5 1.4 1.4 29.0 2007–08 Sophomore 27 .500 .390 .740 12.1 2.4 1.8 2.4 28.6 2008–09 Junior 27 .480 .310 .760 15.1 2.7 1.6 2.5 30.3 2009–10 Senior 24 .500 .320 .820 15.3 3.0 1.3 2.7 31.8 Career 101 .496 .324 .767 13.9 2.7 1.5 2.3 29.9 Source[24]
Ohio State Career
- 2010/11 - Freshman
- In his first collegiate game, Thomas came off the bench to score 24 points and grab 8 rebounds against North Carolina A&T. Thomas also made 2 for 3 from three-point range.[25]
- 11/29/2010 - Named Big 10 Freshman of the Week[26]
- On 1/22/2011, Thomas played a key role to enable a second-half come-from-behind road victory against Illinois. He sank three straight shots, including two 3-pointers, to allow the #1-ranked Buckeyes to remain unbeaten with their 20th win of the season.[27]
- On 2/27/2011, Thomas led all scorers with 22 points in a late-season victory over Indiana, including all 14 of his team's points in one 14-3 first half spurt.[28]
- For the season's 37 games, Thomas averaged 7.5 pts/game (5th best on the team) while playing an average of 14.0 minutes/game (7th best). He was fourth on the team with an average of 3.5 rebounds/game. Thomas did not start in any game, but he was consistently the first forward off the bench. Thomas' contributions helped the Buckeyes to a 34-3 record, including 16-2 to win the Big 10 regular season championship. In addition, his play helped the Buckeyes win the Big 10 Post-season Tournament and get named as the #1-ranking in the overall field of 68 teams playing in the NCAA post-season tournament. With their 24-0 run to start the season, the Buckeyes were ranked 1st in the nation by most major polls for a significant part of the season.[29][30]
College 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 Bold Career high Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 2010–11 Ohio State 37 0 14.0 .479 .328 .797 3.5 0.5 0.4 0.2 7.5 2011–12 Ohio State 2 2 29.0 .412 .167 .818 5.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 12.0 Career 39 2 14.8 .475 .314 .800 3.6 0.4 0.4 0.2 7.7 Source[24]
Awards and Accomplishments
High School
- Career and Team Accomplishments
- 3rd best all-time leading scorer, Indiana boys basketball
- member, AP Indiana All-Century team[19]
- Indiana boys basketball state champions - Class 2A - 2009, 2008
- 2nd best all-time, scoring (34 pts) and rebounds (15 reb), state championship game - Class 2A - 2009
- Indiana boys basketball sectional champions - Class 2A - 2010
- SAC Holiday Basketball Tournament champions - 2009, 2008, 2007[8]
- 2009/10 - Senior
- Season stats
- 2010 Indiana Mr. Basketball
- 2010 finalist, Naismith Award - honoring the nation's high school basketball player of the year
- 2010 McDonald's All-American
- 2010 Jordan Brand Classic All-American
- 1st team, Parade All-American[20]
- 1st team, leading vote-getter, AP Indiana All-State[22]
- 3rd team, USA Today All-USA high school basketball team[31]
- Indiana's NewsCenter Boys Basketball Player of the Year[23]
- News-Sentinel PrepSports Boys Basketball Player of the Year[32]
- Tiffany Gooden award recipient[33]
- led state in scoring average (31.8 ppg)[34]
- 2nd in state in rebounds (15.3 rpg)[34]
- became all-time leading scorer, Allen County, Indiana
- 2008/09 - Junior
- Season stats
- 4th team, Parade All-American[35]
- 1st team, AP Indiana All-State[36]
- Indiana's NewsCenter Boys Basketball Player of the Year[37]
- News-Sentinel PrepSports Boys Basketball Player of the Year[38]
- Tiffany Gooden award recipient[39]
- led state in scoring average (31.7 ppg)[40]
- 2nd in state in rebounds (15.7 rpg)[40]
- 14th in state in blocked shots (2.6 bpg)[40]
- became boys’ all-time leading scorer, northeast Indiana
- became boys’ all-time leading scorer, Allen County, Indiana
- became all-time leading scorer, SAC
- became all-time leading scorer, Bishop Luers High School
- 2007/08 - Sophomore
- Season stats
- 1st team, AP Indiana All-State[41]
- Indiana's NewsCenter Boys Basketball Player of the Year[37]
- News-Sentinel PrepSports Boys Basketball Player of the Year[32]
- Tiffany Gooden award recipient[39]
- became boys all-time leading scorer, Bishop Luers High School
- Basketball FortWayne Player of the Year
- 2006/07 - Freshman
- Season stats
- 3rd team, AP Indiana All-State[41]
- 2nd in state in scoring average (28.95 ppg)[42]
- 3rd in state in rebounds (13.3 rpg)[42]
- Basketball FortWayne Co-Player of the Year
References
- ^ http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index/ssf/2009/12/football_basketball_stars_from.html
- ^ http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091112/SPORTS/911120334
- ^ http://www.indy.com/articles/high-school-boys-basketball/thread/thomas-helps-ft-wayne-luers-to-2nd-straight-title
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Associated Press Indiana All-Century high school basketball team Steve Alford • Damon Bailey • Kent Benson • Larry Bird • Hallie Bryant • Mike Conley • Bill Garrett • Terry Dischinger • Eric Gordon • Billy Keller • Clyde Lovellette • George McGinnis • Rick Mount • Greg Oden • Bobby Plump • Zach Randolph • Jimmy Rayl • Oscar Robertson • Glenn Robinson • Scott Skiles • Homer Stonebraker • Deshaun Thomas • Clay Trainum • Dick Van Arsdale • Tom Van Arsdale • John Wooden • Fuzzy Vandivier
Categories:- African American basketball players
- American basketball players
- Basketball players from Indiana
- McDonald's High School All-Americans
- Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players
- Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
- People from Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Small forwards
- 2010/11 - Freshman
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