Donnell Lee Thomas (born December 21, 1968) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Standing at 196 cm, he played as small forward or power forward.

College career

Thomas played college basketball for the

Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball The Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represents Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, Illinois. The school's team currently competes in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The team last played in the NCAA Division I men's b ...

team, where he was nicknamed "D-Train", for his rebounding ability. He led the team in scoring for three straight years and ended his NIU career as the team's second-highest scoring leader of all time. He was inducted in the NIU Huskies' Hall of Fame in 2003.

Professional career

In 1992, Thomas played with the

Nelson Giants The Nelson Giants are a New Zealand basketball team based in Nelson. The Giants compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Trafalgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Mike Pero Nelson ...

of New Zealand's National Basketball League. He was named to the league's All-Star Five and was honoured as the Best Forward of the Commissioners Cup. From 1995 to 1998, Thomas played for

Donar Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and ...

in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

. He was the league's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in the 1997–98 season. Thomas was also named to the All-Eredivisie First Team three times (from 1996 to 1998). He also led the league in scoring in 1997 and 1998, becoming the second player in league history to do so, after Maurice Smith in 1991. For the 1998–99 season, Thomas played in Israel for Maccabi Hadera. In the 1999–2000 season, he played for

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

. He averaged 22.7 points in 96 Eredivisie games played. He also played for

Ural Great Perm PBC Ural Great Perm was a Russian professional basketball club that was located in Perm, Russia. The club's home arena was Molot Sports Hall. The team played in the Russian Super League. History The club was established in the year 1995 on the ...

in Russia that year, averaging 11.2 points in 19 games played. For the 2000–01 season, Thomas played in Argentina for Ben Hur.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Donnell 1968 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands BV Den Helder players Donar (basketball club) players Forwards (basketball) Nelson Giants players Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball players PBC Ural Great players Basketball players from Chicago