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

College years

Thomas was a standout four-year starter at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

. Thomas was the eighth

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

in the 25-year history of

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

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 Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

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 Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of the ...

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 The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best upperclass women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State University coac ...

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 The Senior CLASS Award is awarded to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in 10 NCAA Division I sports. An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete ...

winner, 2003 Mississippi

Amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

Athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

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.

Mississippi State statistics

Source

WNBA career

Thomas was selected by the

Cleveland Rockers The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Cleveland, that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The owner was Gordon Gu ...

with the No. 1 overall pick in the

2003 WNBA Draft The 2003 WNBA draft, both the dispersal draft and the regular WNBA draft, took place on April 24. The dispersal draft involved players from the rosters of the Portland Fire and Miami Sol teams which had both folded after the 2002 season. For that ...

. During her first WNBA season, she became the Rockers single-season

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

leader in rebounding with 164 and ranked second on the Rockers single-season rookie scoring list with 347 points. She started all three

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

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 The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the ...

, 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 The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...

. She was later traded to the

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. ...

along with the eighteenth pick in the

2008 WNBA Draft The WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which Women's National Basketball Association teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The 2008 draft was held on April 9. A lottery was held on October ...

for

Ivory Latta Ivory Latta (born September 25, 1984) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. She was drafted 11th overall by the Detroit Shock in the 2007 WNBA Draft. A 5'6" (1.68 m) guard noted for her three-point shooting ...

. On June 22, 2008 Thomas was traded to the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

for

Eshaya Murphy Eshaya "Shay" Murphy (born April 15, 1985) is an American professional basketball player. Born in Canoga Park, California, Murphy attended college at USC and graduated in 2007. Following her collegiate career, she was selected 15th overall in th ...

. 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.

Other professional experience

*2012-14 : playing with Altay Konak (

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

2nd League)Eurobasket Profile
/ref> *2011-12 : played with Mersin (Turkish Pro League) *2010-11 : played with Raanana Hertzeliya (

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Pro League) and Burhaniye Belediyesi (Turkish Pro League) *2009-10 : played with

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

(Israel Pro League) *2008-09 : played with Zaragoza (Spanish Pro League) *2006-07 : played with Ensino (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

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 Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

for BC Enge Kazan in the

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA's European-wide second level. Clubs mainly qualify for the competition based on their performance in nation ...

. *2003–04: Spent the off-season playing in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

for the Hyundai Hyperion.

Personal

Majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

educational psychology Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive and behavioral perspectives, allows researchers to understand individual differences i ...

* Earned all-state honors her last three seasons in high school * Named Mississippi's Player of the Year her junior and senior seasons * Earne
Parade All-American
status her

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season * Also played

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

* Named to the honor roll her junior and senior years * Earned a perfect attendance award as well as a good citizenship honor.

References

External links

2003 WNBA Draft Prospectus

Latoya Thomas Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Latoya 1981 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in South Korea American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Basketball players from Mississippi Cleveland Rockers players Detroit Shock players Los Angeles Sparks players Minnesota Lynx players Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball players San Antonio Stars players Small forwards Women's National Basketball Association first-overall draft picks