Sam Thompson (born November 11, 1992) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Marineros de Puerto Plata Marineros de Puerto Plata is a professional basketball team based in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. The team currently plays in Dominican top division Liga Nacional de Baloncesto The Liga Nacional de Baloncesto (LNB) is the top men's professi ...

of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto The Liga Nacional de Baloncesto (LNB) is the top men's professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic. Established in 2005, six teams compete annually between September and October. History The league was founded on September 6, 2004 ...

(LNB). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

High school career

Thompson attended Whitney Young High School in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, where he won two state championships (2008–09) and was runner-up in 2010 contributing 10 points and 8 rebounds per game during his junior campaign and 17.6 points with a .568 FG percentage and 8.7 rebounds per game as a senior.

College career

Thompson had offers from Florida, Georgetown, Kansas, and Oregon State, but he chose

. In 146 career games over four seasons for the Buckeyes, Thompson averaged 6.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 22.9 minutes per game. As a senior, he was named Honorable Mention All-Big 10 by the media.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Thompson joined the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

for the Las Vegas Summer League. On September 15, 2015, he signed with the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

. However, he was later waived by the Hornets on October 23 after appearing in five preseason games. On October 31, he was selected by the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

with the seventh overall pick in the 2015 NBA Development League Draft. On January 14, 2016, he was traded to the

Delaware 87ers Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

in exchange for Gary Talton. On August 11, 2016, Thompson signed in Hungary with Vasas Akademia of the Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A. Between 2017 and 2019, Thompson played two seasons for the Greensboro Swarm of the

NBA G 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 De ...

. For the 2019–20 season, Thompson played in Vietnam for the

Saigon Heat The Saigon Heat is a Vietnamese professional basketball team based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Since the 2014 season, the Heat's home games are played at the CIS Arena on the campus of the Canadian International School in District 7. Saig ...

of the

ASEAN Basketball League The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is a professional men's basketball league in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong/Macau, which includes six teams from Southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), one tea ...

, averaging 20.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. On July 19, 2020, Thompson signed with Novipiù Casale Monferrato of the

Serie A2 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 ...

. On December 29, 2021, Thompson was acquired by the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have cal ...

of the NBA G League. On May 27, 2022, Thompson signed with the

Nelson Giants The Nelson Giants are a New Zealand basketball team based in Nelson. The Giants compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Trafalgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Mike Pero Nelson ...

for the rest of the

2022 New Zealand NBL season The 2022 NBL season is the 41st season of the National Basketball League. For the second year in a row, the league will field 10 teams, with the only changes being the rebrand of the Auckland Huskies to Auckland Tuatara and Taranaki Mountainairs ...

. Thompson began the 2022–23 season in Lithuania with BC Gargždai-SC before re-joining the Sioux Falls Skyforce on December 30, 2022. On May 16, 2023, Thompson signed with the

of the

Personal life

Thompson is the son of Hubert Thompson and Kennise Herring. His siblings include Franklin Thompson, Victoria Thompson and Malcolm Carstafhnur.

References

External links

Ohio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Sam 1992 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic American expatriate basketball people in Vietnam American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Delaware 87ers players Grand Rapids Drive players Greensboro Swarm players Nelson Giants players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Power forwards Saigon Heat players Sioux Falls Skyforce players Small forwards Whitney M. Young Magnet High School alumni Marineros de Puerto Plata players