Zach Thomas (basketball)
Thomas with VL Pesaro in October 2019 | |
No. 23 – Keravnos | |
---|---|
Position | Power forward |
League | Cypriot League |
Personal information | |
Born | Maplewood, Minnesota | June 21, 1996
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) |
Listed weight | 103 kg (227 lb) |
Career information | |
High school | Oakdale (Ijamsville, Maryland) |
College | Bucknell (2014–2018) |
NBA draft | 2018: undrafted |
Playing career | 2018–present |
Career history | |
2018–2019 | Okapi Aalstar |
2019–2020 | VL Pesaro |
2020–2021 | Budivelnyk |
2021 | Wilki Morskie Szczecin |
2021–2022 | Bisons Loimaa |
2022 | Norrköping Dolphins |
2022–present | Keravnos |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Zachary Ryan Thomas (born June 21, 1996) is an American formerly a professional basketball player for Keravnos of the Cypriot League. He played college basketball for Bucknell University. Now a graduate assistant coach at the University of Kentucky.
College career
[edit]A 6'7" power forward, Thomas came to Bucknell from Oakdale High School in Ijamsville, Maryland. Thomas had a standout career at Oakdale, ultimately becoming the all-time leading scorer in Frederick County history and the first player to eclipse the 2,000 point mark.[1] He selected Bucknell based on their basketball success and academic reputation.[2]
Thomas worked his way into the starting lineup in his sophomore season, then enjoyed a breakout season as a junior in 2016–17. He averaged 15.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, and was ultimately named to first-team All-Patriot League alongside classmate Nana Foulland.[3] In the 2017 Patriot League tournament, Thomas led the Bison to the league title, scoring 17 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in the title game, earning Most Valuable Player honors.[4][5] With the win, the Bison advanced to the 2017 NCAA tournament, where they lost to 4 seed West Virginia in the first round.
Thomas entered the 2017–18 season as a preseason All-Patriot League selection.[6] Additionally, he was named to the Lou Henson Award mid-season watch list.
On February 26, 2018, Thomas was named Patriot League Player of the Year.[7]
Professional career
[edit]After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Thomas was later included in the 2018 NBA Summer League roster of the Utah Jazz.[8] On July 27, 2018, Thomas signed with Okapi Aalstar in Belgium.[9] After a successful year playing in Belgium, Thomas was brought into the NBA Summer League once again, this time to play for the Houston Rockets.[10]
On July 17, 2019, he signed with VL Pesaro of Italian Lega Basket Serie A.[11] But due to the coronavirus pandemic in Italy and the suspension of the Italian league,[12] Thomas left the team on March 10.[13]
On October 13, 2020, Thomas signed with BC Budivelnyk in Ukraine.[14]
On January 6, 2021, he signed with Wilki Morskie Szczecin of the PLK.[15] Thomas averaged 6.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
On September 6, 2021, he signed with Bisons Loimaa of the Koripallon I-divisioona.[16]
During summer 2022, he signed with Keravnos of the Cypriot League.
References
[edit]- ^ Swatek, Greg (February 1, 2014). "Oakdale's Zach Thomas scores 2,000 point". Frederick News-Post. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ Markus, Don (November 17, 2017). "Balancing act for Bucknell's Zach Thomas always leans toward basketball". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ "2016-17 Men's basketball All-Patriot League team and major awards announced". Patriot League. February 27, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ Gelston, Dan (March 8, 2017). "Bucknell tops Lehigh 81-65 in Patriot League final". Associated Press. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ Jones, Gordie (March 8, 2017). "Zach Thomas, Bucknell again fully immersed in the madness". American Sports Network. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Stephen (October 18, 2017). "Lehigh picked fourth in Patriot League men's basketball poll; Lafayette pegged for 10th". The Morning Call. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ "Men's basketball 2017-18 All-Patriot League teams and major awards announced (2.26.18)" (Press release). Patriot League. February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ "Jazz Announce Mini-Camp Roster for 2018 Summer League". NBA.com. June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
- ^ "Okapi Aalstar signs rookie Zach Thomas". Sportando. July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
- ^ "2019 Las Vegas Summer League Roster Announced". NBA.com. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
- ^ Carchia, Emiliano (August 2, 2019). "Zach Thomas signs with VL Pesaro". Sportando. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^ "Lega Basket, confermata la sospensione del campionato di Serie A" (in Italian). legabasket.it. 9 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- ^ "Zach Thomas torna negli USA" (in Italian). victorialibertas.it. 10 March 2020.
- ^ "Budivelnyk signs Zach Thomas". Sportando.
- ^ "Zach Thomas (ex Budivelnyk) is a newcomer at King". Eurobasket. January 6, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
- ^ "LoKoKo Bisons sign Zach Thomas, ex King". Eurobasket. September 6, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
External links
[edit]- 1996 births
- Living people
- American expatriate basketball people in Belgium
- American expatriate basketball people in Italy
- American expatriate basketball people in Poland
- American expatriate basketball people in Ukraine
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players from Maryland
- Basketball players from Minnesota
- BC Budivelnyk players
- Bisons Loimaa players
- Bucknell Bison men's basketball players
- Keravnos B.C. players
- Norrköping Dolphins players
- Okapi Aalstar players
- Sportspeople from Frederick County, Maryland
- People from Maplewood, Minnesota
- Sportspeople from Ramsey County, Minnesota
- Power forwards
- Sportspeople from the Washington metropolitan area
- Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro players
- American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus
- American expatriate basketball people in Sweden
- American expatriate basketball people in Finland
- Wilki Morskie Szczecin players