Billy Thomas (born December 23, 1975) 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 who competed in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) and several other leagues. A 6'5" (1.96 m) tall

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

from

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is ...

, he last played with the

Maine Red Claws The Maine Celtics (formerly the Maine Red Claws) are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo B ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

. Billy Thomas is now the basketball head coach of

Rockhurst High School Rockhurst High School is a private, Roman Catholic, Jesuit, all-boys, preparatory school founded in 1910 along with Rockhurst College, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It moved away from the College in 1962 to a campus on State Line Road ...

College career

In his college career, Thomas set a KU record making 269 3-point field goals (that record was later broken by

Jeff Boschee Jeffrey Allen Boschee (; born on December 21, 1979) is an American former basketball player and current coach. He currently serves as head coach of the men's team at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. He was formerly the head coach ...

). He also holds the school record for 3-point field goals made in a conference game, connecting on eight of them in a game against

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

on January 10, 1998.

Professional career

Thomas went undrafted after graduating from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

in 1998. In 2001, Thomas averaged 27.6 points in 10 games for the

Tanduay Rhum Masters The Tanduay Rhum Makers (1975-1987) and Tanduay Rhum Masters (1999-2001) were two basketball franchises associated with the same liquor brand that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The original franchise, owned by Elizald ...

under coach Derick Pumaren in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

. In 2002–03, Thomas won the NBDL Sportsmanship Award while playing for the Greenville Groove. He played for the

Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 season, the team relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and now pl ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball mi ...

(CBA) and was named the CBA Newcomer of the Year and a member of the All-CBA First Team in 2005. He began his NBA career during the 2004–2005 season by signing a 10-day contract with the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

on January 20, 2005. Thomas later signed a second 10-day contract and eventually was signed for the remainder of the season. He appeared in 25 games that year and averaged 3.7 points per game. On March 3, 2006, he signed a 10-day contract with the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

. He played in 17 games and averaged 2.2 points per game. Thomas began the 2007–2008 season with the

Colorado 14ers Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of th ...

of the

D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

. In 27 games (27 starts), prior to his second NBA call-up, Thomas averaged 15.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Thomas was selected to play in the 2008 D-League All-Star Game. On December 24, 2007, Thomas was signed to a ten-day contract with the

. He played in four games with the Nets, scoring a total of two points. On February 22, 2008, Thomas was signed to a ten-day contract by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central ...

so they would have enough players to face the Washington Wizards that night, due to a depleted roster because of a blockbuster trade the day prior. Thomas saw his first action as a Cavalier that very night, playing 19 minutes and scoring 9 points on three three-point shots. Thomas hoisted 11 three-point field goal attempts, his career high. On March 3, 2008, the Cavaliers signed Thomas to a second ten-day contract. His contract expired on March 13, 2008, allowing him to become a free agent. On March 20, 2008, Thomas returned to the Colorado 14ers. On April 16, 2008, the Cavaliers signed Thomas for the remainder of the season and the 2008 playoffs. He played in seven regular-season games for the Cavaliers scoring 12 total points (on four three-point field goals made) grabbed two rebounds and made one steal. Thomas logged eight minutes over three playoff games. He scored three points (on a three-point field goal) and had a rebound, an assist and a steal. Thomas played for the Cavaliers' 2008

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

team in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

. He started both games that he played and averaged five points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and a half a block per game. Thomas has played in numerous other leagues during his professional basketball career: the

USBL The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

, the CBA, the IBL, the

, the Argentine League, the

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the T ...

, 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 ...

, the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North M ...

, the Greek League and the ULEB Cup. On September 2, 2009, Thomas was drafted by the

in the third round of the NBA Development League Expansion Draft.

Coaching career

Thomas is the owner of the "Billy Thomas Hoops Academy", located in Kansas City, Missouri. Beginning in the 2010–2011 season, Thomas is also the head coach of the boys' varsity basketball team at

The Barstow School The Barstow School, formerly called Miss Barstow’s School, is a secular, coeducational, independent preparatory school in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It was co-founded in 1884 by Mary Louise Barstow and Ada Brann. The Barstow School enrolls ...

in Kansas City, Missouri. In the 2015–2016 season, the Barstow Boys' Basketball team was ranked first in the small school category by The Kansas City Star. Now he coaches the

basketball team.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" ,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, 25 , , 0 , , 14.2 , , .362 , , .304 , , .778 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .6 , , .0 , , 3.7 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" ,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 17 , , 0 , , 7.7 , , .325 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , .8 , , .5 , , .6 , , .1 , , 2.2 , - , align="left" , 2007–08 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5 , - , align="left" , 2007–08 , align="left" ,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

, 7 , , 0 , , 4.9 , , .286 , , .308 , , .000 , , .3 , , .0 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 53 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .338 , , .304 , , .846 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .5 , , .0 , , 2.7

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , align="left" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, align="left" ,

, 3 , , 0 , , 4.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , - , align="left" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, align="left" ,

, 3 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .500 , , .500 , , .000 , , .3 , , .3 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 8 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .100 , , .167 , , .500 , , .3 , , .1 , , .1 , , .0 , , .6

Notes

External links

kuathletics.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Billy 1975 births Living people ABA League players American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Serbia American men's basketball players Basketball players from Shreveport, Louisiana Cincinnati Stuff players CBA All-Star Game players Cleveland Cavaliers players Colorado 14ers players Greek Basket League players Greenville Groove players Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Kavala B.C. players KK Crvena zvezda players Maine Red Claws players New Jersey Nets players Pallacanestro Trieste players Philippine Basketball Association imports Regatas Corrientes basketball players Shooting guards Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players Tanduay Rhum Masters players Undrafted National Basketball Association players Washington Wizards players