Mel Thomas
Encyclopedia
Melanie Eileen "Mel" Thomas was born August 26, 1985 in Cincinnati, Ohio
, to Jeff and Mary Thomas She is an American basketball player who played for the University of Connecticut
Huskies from 2004-2008.
. As a junior, she averaged 18.3 points, 5.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds while leading Mount Notre Dame H.S. to a 23-3 mark and a regional finals
appearance. As a senior, she led the Cougars to a perfect 28-0 record and a Division I Ohio State Championship. She averaged 20.4 points 5.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds, and made several All America teams. Thomas was named a WBCA
All-American. She participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored two points.
, Ohio State
, and Cincinnati
. Thomas struggled during her freshman season. In her sophomore season, she was named the BIG EAST’s Most Improved Player. She started all of the Huskies’ first 28 contests before sitting out the final two games of the regular season with a sprained right ankle, which she got in the Syracuse game on February 2, 2006. The next season (junior) was her breakout season. Thomas started in all 36 games as the Huskies’ shooting guard and tallied doublefigure points in 16 games, including three 20-plus scoring efforts. She made at least one 3-pointer in 35 of 36 games. In her junior and senior seasons, she co-captained the team with Renee Montgomery
. She spent the summer prior to the start of her junior season playing for the USA Pan American Games Team, which became the first U.S. squad to capture the gold medal at the Pan American Games since 1987. In her senior season, Thomas scored her 1,000 point of her career against the Virginia Cavaliers
on December 5, 2007 in a 75-45 UConn win. Nine games later, her season was cut short due to tearing her ACL and lateral meniscus against Syracuse on January 15, 2008. On January 21, 2008, against the University of North Carolina
Tar Heels, Thomas was honored with her 1,000th point ball in front of a sold-out crowd at Gampel Pavilion. While sidelined with the injury during her senior year she wrote in a diary everyday and it later was made in to a book that she published called "Heart Of A Husky". She finished her UConn career with 1,098 career points, and is in the Top 5 in 3pt FG's made with 224 career three pointers.
training camp roster along with Kasha Terry
. Since July 2009, she is playing for Artego Bydgoszcz in the Polish league PLKK
.
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Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, to Jeff and Mary Thomas She is an American basketball player who played for the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
Huskies from 2004-2008.
High school
Thomas won many awards during her High School basketball career for Cincinnati’s Mount Notre Dame High SchoolMount Notre Dame High School
Mount Notre Dame High School is a private, all-female, college-preparatory high school in Reading, a city in Hamilton County, Ohio north of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1860, Mt. Notre Dame originally was a boarding school known for its excellence in education...
. As a junior, she averaged 18.3 points, 5.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds while leading Mount Notre Dame H.S. to a 23-3 mark and a regional finals
appearance. As a senior, she led the Cougars to a perfect 28-0 record and a Division I Ohio State Championship. She averaged 20.4 points 5.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds, and made several All America teams. Thomas was named a WBCA
Women's Basketball Coaches Association
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels.The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches.The mission of the WBCA is:...
All-American. She participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored two points.
College
Thomas chose UConn over schools like DukeDuke Blue Devils
Duke University's 26 varsity sports teams, known as the Blue Devils, compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The name comes from the French "les Diables Bleus" or "the Blue Devils," which was the nickname given during World War I to the Chasseurs Alpins, the French Alpine light infantry...
, Ohio State
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of The Ohio State University, named after the state tree, the Buckeye. The Buckeyes participate in the NCAA's Division I in all sports and the Big Ten Conference in most sports...
, and Cincinnati
Cincinnati Bearcats
The Cincinnati Bearcats are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Cincinnati. Since July 1, 2005, the school's athletic teams have been members of the Big East Conference....
. Thomas struggled during her freshman season. In her sophomore season, she was named the BIG EAST’s Most Improved Player. She started all of the Huskies’ first 28 contests before sitting out the final two games of the regular season with a sprained right ankle, which she got in the Syracuse game on February 2, 2006. The next season (junior) was her breakout season. Thomas started in all 36 games as the Huskies’ shooting guard and tallied doublefigure points in 16 games, including three 20-plus scoring efforts. She made at least one 3-pointer in 35 of 36 games. In her junior and senior seasons, she co-captained the team with Renee Montgomery
Renee Montgomery
Renee Danielle Montgomery is an American basketball player who won a national championship with the UConn Huskies in 2009. She currently plays for the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA.-High school:...
. She spent the summer prior to the start of her junior season playing for the USA Pan American Games Team, which became the first U.S. squad to capture the gold medal at the Pan American Games since 1987. In her senior season, Thomas scored her 1,000 point of her career against the Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia Cavaliers
The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams officially representing the University of Virginia in college sports. The Cavaliers compete in 25 NCAA Division I varsity sports and are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
on December 5, 2007 in a 75-45 UConn win. Nine games later, her season was cut short due to tearing her ACL and lateral meniscus against Syracuse on January 15, 2008. On January 21, 2008, against the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
Tar Heels, Thomas was honored with her 1,000th point ball in front of a sold-out crowd at Gampel Pavilion. While sidelined with the injury during her senior year she wrote in a diary everyday and it later was made in to a book that she published called "Heart Of A Husky". She finished her UConn career with 1,098 career points, and is in the Top 5 in 3pt FG's made with 224 career three pointers.
Pro career
Thomas was hoping to be an early second-round pick or late second-round pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft, but she went undrafted because of the ACL injury. In October 2008, Thomas made it back to the court to play in her first professional basketball game for the Irish League's Waterford Wildcats. She scored 33 points in her first game. Thomas played for the Wildcats in Waterford, Ireland for one season. In March 2009, she was added to the Seattle StormSeattle Storm
The Seattle Storm is a professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2000 season began...
training camp roster along with Kasha Terry
Kasha Terry
Kasha NiCarra Terry, born October 21, 1983 in Nuremberg, Bavaria, West Germany) is an American professional basketball player in the WNBA. Terry is 6'3" tall and weighs 185 lbs .-High school:...
. Since July 2009, she is playing for Artego Bydgoszcz in the Polish league PLKK
PLKK
PLKK is a Polish female basketball league. The league also uses sponsors' names.- PLKK names in previous seasons :* 2006-still Ford Germaz Ekstraklasa...
.
Awards
- 2003 — Ohio Girls Basketball Magazine Dream Team selection
- 2002 — Adidas Top Ten Camp Underclass All-Star
- 2002 — Street & Smith All-America Honorable Mention
- 2003 — Street & Smith All-America Honorable Mention.
- 2003 — USA Today Super 25 choice
- 2003 — Nike All-American
- 2004 — McDonald’s All-America Team
- 2004 — WBCAWomen's Basketball Coaches AssociationThe Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels.The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches.The mission of the WBCA is:...
All-America Team - 2004 — Associated Press Ohio Co-Player of the Year
- 2004 — Cincinnati Metro Player of the Year
- 2004 — Ohio Ms. Basketball (2004) awarded by Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association
- 2006 — Big East Most Improved Player
- 2008 — CoSIDA Women's Basketball Academic All-District I First Team
University of Connecticut statistics
| Mel Thomas Statistics at University of Connecticut | |||||||||||||||||||
| Year | G | FG | FGA | PCT | 3FG | 3FGA | PCT | FT | FTA | PCT | REB | AVG | A | TO | B | S | MIN | PTS | AVG |
|||||||||||||||||||
| 2004-05 | 29 | 54 | 136 | 0.397 | 26 | 84 | 0.310 | 28 | 42 | 0.667 | 56 | 1.9 | 54 | 31 | 4 | 20 | 526 | 162 | 5.6 |
| 2005-06 | 35 | 135 | 276 | 0.489 | 76 | 177 | 0.429 | 46 | 59 | 0.780 | 83 | 2.4 | 66 | 40 | 6 | 53 | 1043 | 392 | 11.2 |
| 2006-07 | 36 | 120 | 291 | 0.412 | 87 | 205 | 0.424 | 51 | 56 | 0.911 | 97 | 2.7 | 63 | 29 | 4 | 24 | 1146 | 378 | 10.5 |
| 2007-08 | 16 | 57 | 134 | 0.425 | 35 | 89 | 0.393 | 17 | 17 | 1.000 | 47 | 2.9 | 44 | 16 | 0 | 15 | 457 | 166 | 10.4 |
| Totals | 116 | 366 | 837 | 0.437 | 224 | 555 | 0.404 | 142 | 174 | 0.816 | 283 | 2.4 | 227 | 116 | 14 | 112 | 3172 | 1098 | 9.5 |