Deon La velle Thomas (born February 24, 1971) is an American-Israeli 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. As a high school player, he led his team to the

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title, and was named

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. As a college player at the

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, he finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in

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history. Selected by the

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with the 28th selection of the 1994 NBA Draft, he opted to play professional basketball in Europe and Israel.

High school career

Thomas was a star basketball player at

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's Neal F. Simeon Vocational High School, graduating in 1989. As a junior in 1988, he led the Wolverines to the

title. As a senior, he was named

and played in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

, which also featured future NBA star

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College career

Thomas played

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at the

. Thomas finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in

history, with 2,129 career points scored and an 18.0 points per game scoring average. Thomas is the only men's basketball player in Illinois history to score at least 2,000 career points. Thomas was elected to the " Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004.

Professional career

Thomas was selected by the

with the 28th selection of the 1994 NBA Draft. Thomas attended mini camp but never played in the NBA, having opted to play professional basketball in Europe and Israel. Thomas played two years in

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 ...

for Maccabi Tel Aviv, winning the Israeli championship, the Israeli cup, and the Euroleague championship twice. Thomas didn't play in the 2005 Final Four due to a broken leg. This injury forced him to leave Maccabi Tel Aviv. He then joined the

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team Gymnastikos S. Larissas, the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n team

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, and then returned to Israel where he played for Givat Shmuel. He then played for Maccabi Haifa, also in Israel. He is one of the most successful American pros of all time in the European leagues. Thomas has passed on several opportunities to play in the NBA. On 13 November 2006, in an interview for Bulgarian newspaper ''Tema Sport'' and Bulgarian television "Channel 3", Deon Thomas denied any wrongdoing and swore that he didn't receive anything from University of Illinois, as

Bruce Pearl Bruce Alan Pearl (born March 18, 1960) is an American college basketball coach, and the head coach of the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team. He previously served as the head coach at Tennessee, Milwaukee, and Southern Indiana. Pearl led Sout ...

had claimed. He said the decision to play for Illinois was made by his grandmother.

Coaching/Announcing Career

In 2009, Thomas became the men's basketball head coach at Lewis and Clark Community College in

Godfrey, Illinois Godfrey is a village in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,982 at the 2010 census. Godfrey is located within the Riverbend portion of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Geography Godfrey is located at (38.94809 ...

. In April 2014, Thomas was named as an assistant basketball coach at the University of Illinois-Chicago. In 2016, he was hired by Fighting Illini Sports Network to call men's basketball games with Doug Altenberger.

Personal life

Thomas is now an Israeli citizen, and is married to an Israeli.

Honors

High school

* 1988 - IHSA 1st Team All-State * 1988 - IHSA State Tournament All-Tournament Team * 1989 - IHSA 1st Team All-State * 1989 -

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1st Team All-American * 1989 -

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* 1989 -

* 2015 - Inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player.

College

* 1991 - 3rd Team All-

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* 1992 - Illini Team Co-Captain * 1992 - Illini MVP * 1992 - 2nd Team All-Big Ten * 1993 - Illini Team Co-Captain * 1993 - Illini MVP * 1993 - 2nd Team All-Big Ten * 1994 - Illini Team Co-Captain * 1994 - Illini MVP * 1994 - 2nd Team All-Big Ten * 1994 - Honorable Mention All American * 2004 - Elected to the " Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team". * 2008 - Honored as one of the thirty-three honored jerseys which hang in the

State Farm Center The State Farm Center is a large dome-shaped 15,544-seat indoor arena located in Champaign, Illinois, owned and operated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The arena hosts games for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, ...

to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history. * 2019 - Inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame

College statistics

University of Illinois

* All-time leader in University of Illinois history

References

http://www.lc.cc.il.us/media/63181/release-deon%20thomas%2009.pdf

External links

Bruce Pearl's memo to the NCAA

Deon Thomas' player page at EuroBasket
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Deon Living people 1971 births Liga ACB players African-American basketball players American emigrants to Israel American expatriate basketball people in Bulgaria American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Baloncesto Málaga players Basketball players from Chicago Bàsquet Manresa players CB Girona players CB Gran Canaria players Real Betis Baloncesto players Centers (basketball) Dallas Mavericks draft picks Gymnastikos S. Larissas B.C. players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball announcers Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Israeli American Israeli men's basketball players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Israeli people of African-American descent Maccabi Givat Shmuel players Maccabi Haifa B.C. players Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players McDonald's High School All-Americans Naturalized citizens of Israel Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople