Cleveland Joseph "Pancake" Thomas Jr. (born December 2, 1993) 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

Dorados de Chihuahua Dorados de Chihuahua (English: Chihuahua Goldens) are a refounded baseball team from the city of Chihuahua. Recently, the Tuneros de San Luis moved to Chihuahua and took the Dorados namesake, which also brought the LMB (AAA) Mexican Baseball Le ...

High school career

Thomas attended

Scotlandville Magnet High School Scotlandville Magnet High School (SMHS) is a public high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. Scotlandville High is part of the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools. The school serves the Scotlandville neighborhood of Baton Rouge ...

. As a senior, he averaged 18 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists per game, earning Class 5A All-State honors. Thomas posted 21 points and 11 rebounds in a 82-48 victory over McKinley High School in the state title game.

College career

Thomas began his college basketball career with

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, helping the Lobos reach the NCAA Tournament as a freshman. He averaged 3.9 points per game as a sophomore and saw his minutes dwindle as the season progressed. Thomas opted to transfer following the season, but tore his ACL three days later. He opted to come to

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since ...

, one of the few schools to show interest despite the injury. As a junior, he averaged 19 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and had four 30-point performances. Thomas transferred to

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogn ...

for his redshirt senior season.

Professional career

Thomas played for KTE-Duna Aszfalt during the 2020-21 season and averaged 14.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. On September 6, 2021, Thomas signed with

Apollon Patras :''The first version of this article has been based in the text of :el:Α.Σ. Απόλλων of the Greek Wikipedia published under the GFDL.'' A.S. Apollon Patras (Greek:''A.Σ. Απόλλων Πατρών'') is a multi-sports club that is bas ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

. He averaged 8.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. On February 4, 2022, Thomas parted ways with the team. In March 2022, Thomas was added to the roster of Rwandan club REG for the

2022 BAL season The 2022 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 2, was the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 2 March 2022 and ended with the Finals on 28 May 2022. The group phase was played in the Dakar Arena in Dakar an ...

, the second season of the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League. The league is a joint eff ...

. On March 6, he scored a game-high 26 points in his league debut to help REG win the first game over AS Salé. He also went on to win the

Rwanda Basketball League The Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) (formerly the National Basketball League Rwanda) is the top professional basketball league in Rwanda. Its season usually runs from November to September. The winners of the NBL season qualify for the qualifier ...

championship in 2022. In October 2022, Thomas played for Al-Ahli Benghazi in the

2022 Arab Club Basketball Championship The 2022 Arab Club Basketball Championship ( ar, بطولة الأندية العربية لكرة السلة 2022) was the 34th season of the Arab Club Basketball Championship. The tournament is held from 5 October to 15 October 2022 in Kuwait. A ...

. He later joined

Beirut Club Beirut Club () is a basketball team based in Beirut, Lebanon, who plays in the Lebanese Basketball League (LBL), the top-flight of basketball in Lebanon. Home games of the club are played in the Stade Nouhad Naufal. The club was first promoted ...

of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is the top-tier professional men's basketball league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketball Federation (FLB). Currently, the leag ...

(LBL) and

West Asia Super League The West Asia Super League (WASL) is an international basketball league organised by FIBA Asia, consisting of clubs from Western Asia and Gulf regions, in addition to the representatives of India and Kazakhstan. The league was announced in ...

(WASL). On February 15, 2023, Thomas rejoined REG. He played in the

2023 BAL season The 2023 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 3, is the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 11 March 2023 and will end on 27 May 2023, with the playoffs and finals being played in the BK Arena in Kigali, which ...

with REG. In July 2023, he joined Mexican side

Personal life

Thomas gained the nickname "Pancake" from his grandmother, who remarked that his mother's stomach was flat as a pancake during her pregnancy with him. He is a pescatarian and is an advocate for depression awareness

BAL career statistics

, - , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

, style="text-align:left;", REG , 6 , , 6 , , 35.2 , , .419 , , .375 , , .813 , , 5.3 , , 4.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.3 , , 20.3

Awards and accomplishments

Club

;REG *

: (

) ;Zlatorog Laško *

Alpe Adria Cup Alpe Adria Cup is an annual professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developme ...

: (

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

)

Individual

* RBL All-Star: (2022) * Second-team All-

America East The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference has nine core members including eight public research u ...

: (2016)

References

External links

RealGM profile

New Mexico Lobos bioWestern Kentucky Hilltoppers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Cleveland 1993 births Living people American men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Slovenia Apollon Patras B.C. players Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball players Hartford Hawks men's basketball players New Mexico Lobos men's basketball players REG BBC players Basketball players from Louisiana