Omar Abdul Thomas (born February 27, 1982) is an American former professional

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.

Early years

Thomas was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Having taken the first steps to Strawberry Mansion High School and at Panola Junior College (Texas), passes to the prestigious

University of Texas El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

(UTEP), taking leave in 2005 with figures of all respect.

Professional career

After the university, Thomas had a tryout with the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

but did not sign contract. Then he went to the

Coca-Cola Tigers Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

in the Philippines. After one year he went to the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

(NBDL) with the

Austin Toros Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. His career continued in the Dominican Republic with the Deportivo Naco. In 2006, he was spotted by Giampiero Ticchi who brought him to play in Italy where his first team was

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

where he played for two seasons. During the summer of 2008, he signed an agreement with the French club Pau-Orthez, but was cut after three games. Then he went back in Italy and signed with

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, which debuted in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

. At Napoli he averaged 11.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. In July 2009, he signed with

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

of the

Legadue Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian basketball league system, Italian league pyramid, below the first ...

. At the end of the season, he was named the Legadue

MVP 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 ...

. On June 24, 2010, Thomas signed with

Sidigas Avellino S.S. Felice Scandone was an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the first tier of basketball in Italy, for 19 years (2000/01 to 2018/19). ...

. In the 2010–11 season, Thomas drag the club in playoff with the fourth place overall at the end of the regular season, and won the title of MVP of the Italian League regular season, with an average of 18.0 points and 6.2 rebounds. On 6 December 2011, the National Commission of Judges of the FIP has suspended the player for 16 months (until April 6, 2013) because he was charged with possession of false passports of

Republic of Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. However a few days later the player had the permission from

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

to move to

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in B ...

, as the disqualification of the Italian federation had no international effect. While playing with Crvena zvezda he had a good season, leading his team to the final of the playoffs in the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer of ...

and the final of

Kup Radivoja Koraća Kup may refer to: * Kup (Transformers), various characters in the ''Transformers'' franchise * Kup, Hungary * Kup, Poland * Küp, in Turkey * Kup (military rank), a military rank in North Korea * Kup (cuneiform), a sign in cuneiform writing * Ku ...

where they lost both times to

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

. On July 12, 2013, Thomas signed with

Dinamo Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the current European Cu ...

for the 2013–14 season. On August 23, 2014, he signed with FMC Ferentino of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pro ...

for the 2014–15 season. In November 2015, he signed with

Halcones Rojos Veracruz Halcones Rojos Veracruz is a Mexican professional basketball team based in Veracruz. History After two successful seasons on the basketball team Halcones UV Xalapa, and seeing how the fans to the sport was growing in the state of Veracruz, it w ...

of the Mexican LNBP. In late December 2015, he left Veracruz and signed with VITA Tbilisi of the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus an ...

. On March 1, 2016, he left Tbilisi and signed with

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

for the rest of the season. On July 3, 2016, Thomas signed with

Vanoli Cremona Guerino Vanoli Basket, also known as Vanoli Cremona, is a professional basketball team of the city of Cremona. The team played in the LBA, the top Italian basketball league, for 12 years until 2021. From 1999 to 2011 the society had the name of ...

for the 2016–17 season. On November 23, 2016, he parted ways with Cremona after appearing in six games. In December 2016, he signed with

Hoops Club Hoops Club ( ar, نادي هوبس) is a Lebanese sports club. It is based in Beirut, Lebanon, with further branches in Antelias, Tyre, and southern suburbs of Beirut. Hoops club basketball team is part of the Lebanese Basketball League playin ...

. In 2017, he played in Mexico with the Náuticos de Mazatlán of the

Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico The Basketball Circuit of the Pacific Coast ( or ''CIBACOPA'') is a basketball league based in Northwestern Mexico. As of 2018, it involves 10 clubs, primarily from northwest Mexico. The matches take place from March to June. History A league wi ...

(CIBACOPA).Mazatlan signs Omar Thomas, ex Hoops
/ref>

References

External links