LaToya Thomas

LaToya Monique Thomas (born July 6, 1981) is a professional basketball player.

For the person falsely convicted of murder, see Autopsy (TV series).
LaToya Thomas
Personal information
Born (1981-07-06) July 6, 1981
Greenville, Mississippi, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight165 lb (75 kg)
Career information
High schoolGreenville (Greenville, Mississippi)
CollegeMississippi State (1999–2003)
WNBA draft2003: 1st round, 1st overall pick
Selected by the Cleveland Rockers
Playing career2003–2008
PositionForward
Number32, 21
Career history
2003Cleveland Rockers
2004–2006San Antonio Silver Stars
2007Los Angeles Sparks
2008Detroit Shock
2008Minnesota Lynx
Career highlights and awards
  • 4× Kodak All-American (2000–2003)
  • 2× First-team All-American – AP (2002, 2003)
  • 2× SEC Player of the Year (2002, 2003)
  • 3× First-team All-SEC (2000–2003)
  • SEC Freshman of the Year (2000)
  • SEC Newcomer of the Year (2000)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

College years

Thomas was a standout four-year starter at Mississippi State University.

Thomas was the eighth freshman in the 25-year history of Kodak All-America honors to earn the award and first Lady Bulldog to be named a Kodak All-American. She went on to become just the sixth player in women's basketball history to be a four-time Kodak All-American. She left her mark in the SEC as well, becoming the first player in the conference to lead the league in scoring all four years of her career. Thomas was a three time-finalist for the Naismith Award and she was also a four-time first team all-SEC and AP all-SEC selection. Thomas was a finalist in 2003 for the Margaret Wade Trophy given each season to the top female college player. Diana Taurasi won the Wade Trophy in 2003.

Thomas is the all-time leading scorer at Mississippi State, for either men or women, with 2,981 career points. She holds the Lady Bulldog records for field goals made, field goals attempted, field goal percentage, free throws made, free throws attempted, free throw percentage, rebounds and blocked shots.

In addition to her numerous all-America honors, Thomas was named the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner, 2003 Mississippi Amateur Athlete of the Year and 2003 SEC Female Athlete of the Year. Upon graduation, she became the first athlete from the state of Mississippi to be taken as a top pick in a professional draft, going No. 1 to the Cleveland Rockers in the 2003 WNBA draft.[1][2]

Mississippi State statistics

Source[3]

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 Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1999–00 Mississippi State 32 672 .570 .286 .785 7.9 1.6 1.4 1.0 21.0
2000–01 Mississippi State 31 752 .548 .200 .736 8.5 1.4 1.3 1.1 24.3
2001–02 Mississippi State 31 763 .570 .125 .776 9.9 2.0 1.4 0.6 24.6
2002–03 Mississippi State 31 794 .528 .429 .816 9.1 1.6 1.6 0.8 25.6
Career 125 2,981 .553 .309 .776 8.9 1.6 1.4 0.9 23.8

WNBA career

Thomas was selected by the Cleveland Rockers with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 WNBA draft. During her first WNBA season, she became the Rockers single-season rookie leader in rebounding with 164 and ranked second on the Rockers single-season rookie scoring list with 347 points. She started all three playoff games for the Rockers against Detroit, averaging 13.7 points and 7.7 rebounds in 33.3 minutes per game.

When the Cleveland franchise folded following the season, Thomas was selected No. 3 overall in the 2004 dispersal draft by the San Antonio Silver Stars, for whom she played from 2004 to 2006. She had six 20-plus point games in her first season with the Silver Stars.

On February 6, 2008 Thomas was selected in the expansion draft by the Atlanta Dream. She was later traded to the Detroit Shock along with the eighteenth pick in the 2008 WNBA draft for Ivory Latta. On June 22, 2008 Thomas was traded to the Minnesota Lynx for Eshaya Murphy.

Thomas was eventually released by the Minnesota Lynx and played outside the United States during the early part of 2009. Thomas was not listed on a WNBA roster to open the 2009 season and was also not listed on any team's roster to open the 2010 season.

WNBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2003 Cleveland 322526.6.463.000.7895.11.20.90.41.310.8
2004 San Antonio 313031.1.489.475.8414.51.40.80.41.814.2
2005 San Antonio 211224.0.429.429.8983.21.00.30.41.68.8
2006 San Antonio 19019.4.452.000.7634.31.20.70.41.48.3
2007 Los Angeles 27718.0.443.421.8262.31.20.30.31.17.7
2008 Detroit 705.7.267.000.0000.70.10.10.10.31.1
2008 Minnesota 13011.3.500.714.4441.90.20.20.01.43.6
Career 6 years, 5 teams 1507422.4.460.397.8113.61.10.60.31.49.3

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2003 Cleveland 3333.3.438.000.7657.71.30.31.32.013.7
Career 1 year, 1 team 3333.3.438.000.7657.71.30.31.32.013.7

Other professional experience
  • 2012-14 : playing with Altay Konak (Turkey 2nd League)[4]
  • 2011-12 : played with Mersin (Turkish Pro League)
  • 2010-11 : played with Raanana Hertzeliya (Israel Pro League) and Burhaniye Belediyesi (Turkish Pro League)
  • 2009-10 : played with Jerusalem (Israel Pro League)
  • 2008-09 : played with Zaragoza (Spanish Pro League)
  • 2006-07 : played with Ensino (Spanish Pro League) and Elizur Ramla (Israel Pro League)
  • 2006 : played with Montpellier (French Pro League) and Cadi (Spanish Pro League)
  • 2005 : played with Kazan (Russian Pro League)
  • 2004–05: Spent part of the off-season playing in Russia for BC Enge Kazan in the FIBA Europe Cup.
  • 2003–04: Spent the off-season playing in Korea for the Hyundai Hyperion.

Personal

See also

References
  1. http://www.mstateathletics.com/doc_lib/wbk_0607mg_history.pdf%5B%5D
  2. "Ranking the top 5 Mississippi State athletes of all time: Who's No. 1?". SEC Country. March 2, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  3. "NCAA® Career Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  4. Eurobasket Profile
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