Deshaun Thomas

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Deshaun Thomas
File:Deshaun Thomas.JPG
Thomas playing for Bishop Luers HS
No. 23 – Austin Spurs
Position Small forward
League NBA Development League
Personal information
Born (1991-08-28) August 28, 1991 (age 32)
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight 215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school Bishop Luers
(Fort Wayne, Indiana)
College Ohio State (2010–2013)
NBA draft 2013 / Round: 2 / Pick: 58th overall
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Playing career 2013–present
Career history
2013–2014 JSF Nanterre
2014–2015 FC Barcelona
2015–present Austin Spurs
Career highlights and awards

Deshaun Thomas (born August 29, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League. Standing at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he plays at the small forward position. Thomas played college basketball for Ohio State University and was drafted 58th overall in the 2013 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs.

Early life

Even as a young man, these basketball prospects of Thomas were apparent to those who knew him. As a 5th-grade student at Northcrest Elementary School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Thomas's 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.[1][2][3]

High school career

Thomas attended Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, 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.[4] His 34 points and 15 rebounds in 2009 each stand as the second best ever in the class 2A state championship game.[5]

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.[6]

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, the previous 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.[7][8] 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.[9][9][10][11]

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 played March 31, 2010 at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, home court of the Ohio State Buckeyes.[9][12][13] 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, played April 17, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[14]

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.[15][16]

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 3,000 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's Indiana All-Century team, a special team selected in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Indiana high school basketball tournament.[17]

On March 29, 2010, it was announced that Thomas was selected as a first-team member of the 2010 Parade All-America Team.[18]

The culmination of Thomas's career came April 3, 2010 when he was named recipient of the 2010 Indiana Mr. Basketball award.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21]

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.[22]

High school statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006–07 Bishop Luers HS 23 .500 .260 .730 13.3 2.5 1.4 1.4 29.0
2007–08 Bishop Luers HS 27 .500 .390 .740 12.1 2.4 1.8 2.4 28.6
2008–09 Bishop Luers HS 27 .480 .310 .760 15.1 2.7 1.6 2.5 30.3
2009–10 Bishop Luers HS 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[23]

College career

Thomas graduated from high school as a highly regarded five-star player who verbally committed to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes when he was still a high school freshman.[24] As a senior on November 11, 2009, Thomas formalized his decision by signing a letter of intent with the Buckeyes.[25]

College highlights

  • 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.[26]
    • 11/29/2010 - Named Big 10 Freshman of the Week[27]
    • 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.[28]
    • 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.[29]
    • 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.[30][31]
  • 2011–12 - Sophomore
    • Since the team lost three key players from the prior year, Thomas has assumed a bigger role in this year's team strategy. Through the team's first 12 games, Thomas has started each game and averaged 28.8 minutes of playing time.
    • On 12/19/2011, Thomas was named Big 10 Men's Basketball Player of the Week after two solid games. Responding to the absence of injured team leader Jared Sullinger, Thomas scored 23 points and 30 points in the two games played that week. Each game resulted in a victory, at home against South Carolina Upstate and on the road against South Carolina.[32]
    • On 2/18/2012, Thomas recorded his first career double-double, leading the Buckeyes with 25 points and 13 rebounds in a Big Ten road loss at Michigan.[33]
    • On 3/5/2012, at the conclusion of the regular season in which Thomas started in all 31 of the Buckeye games, Deshaun was honored by being named to the Coaches' 2nd Team All Big-10. He was also selected to the 3rd Team in a vote by the media.[34]
    • On 3/15/2012, Thomas had one of the best games of his career. In the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, Deshaun led the Buckeyes to a 78-59 victory over Loyola (MD). In that game, Thomas was the leading scorer with a career-high 31 points, and he also led the game with 12 rebounds.
  • 2012–13 - Junior
    • Early in the season, Thomas led the Buckeyes to the title in the 2012 Naismith Memoriall Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff championship. For his efforts, Thomas was named tournament MVP.[35]
    • On April 5, 2013, Thomas announced that he would be foregoing his senior season at Ohio State to enter the 2013 NBA Draft. He left the school as the 9th best scorer in school history after a junior season that posted the 3rd highest single-season total ever by a Buckeye.[36]

College statistics

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 39 39 31.4 .520 .345 .748 5.4 0.9 0.4 0.2 15.9
2012–13 Ohio State 37 37 35.4 .445 .344 .834 5.9 1.3 0.5 0.3 19.8
Career 113 76 27.0 .482 .339 .792 4.9 0.9 0.4 0.2 14.4

Source[37]

Professional career

Thomas was selected with the 58th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs.[38] He joined the Spurs for the 2013 NBA Summer League where he averaged 12.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in five games. On August 16, 2013, he signed with JSF Nanterre of France for the 2013–14 season.[39][40] In 30 league games for Nanterre, he averaged 12.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

In July 2014, Thomas re-joined the Spurs for the 2014 NBA Summer League where he averaged 10.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in six games. On August 31, 2014, he signed a one-year deal with FC Barcelona of the Liga ACB.[41] In 43 league games, he averaged 8.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

On September 28, 2015, Thomas signed with the Spurs.[42] However, he was later waived by the Spurs on October 21 after appearing in two preseason games.[43] Nine days later, he was acquired by the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of San Antonio.[44]

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

Note: The Euroleague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2013–14 Nanterre 10 0 18.9 .429 .341 .750 2.8 .1 .4 .2 9.5 5.9
2014–15 Barcelona 28 26 19.4 .526 .395 .639 2.5 .5 .4 .3 7.1 7.1
Career 38 26 19.3 .492 .367 .667 2.6 .4 .4 .2 7.8 6.8

Awards and accomplishments

High school

College

  • 2012/13 - Junior
    • 3rd team, AP All-American Team[57]
    • Preseason Top 50 & Finalist, the Wooden Award[58][59]
    • 1st team, All-Big Ten (Coaches' Poll)[60]
    • 1st team, All-Big Ten (Media Voting Panel)[60]
    • led Big 10 in scoring average[61]
    • led Big 10 in free throw shooting percentage[61]
    • Two-time Big Ten Player/co-Player of the Week - January 14, November 19[62]
    • AP Preseason All-American Team[63]
    • ESPN Preseason All-American Team[64]
    • Sporting News Preseason All-American Team[65]
    • Preseason All-Big Ten Team[66]
  • 2011/12 - Sophomore
    • 2nd team, All-Big Ten (Coaches' Poll)
    • 3rd team, All-Big Ten (Media Voting Panel)
    • NCAA Tournament All-East Region Team[67]
    • Big Ten Player of the Week - December 19[67]
  • 2010/11 - Freshman
    • Big Ten Freshman of the Week - November 29[67]

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

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