Deshaun Thomas was the NCAA Tournament’s scoring leader last March. Before the Buckeyes were eliminated in the Final Four, Deshaun Thomas really showed what he can do offensively, and improved his NBA draft stock. This year his NBA Draft stock plateaued, after jumping greatly his sophomore season. Deshaun Thomas will now enter the draft and see where his fortunes lie.
Thomas plans to finish the 2013 Ohio State Spring Semester while splitting time between Columbus and Indianapolis preparing for the NBA Draft. Also check out the interesting letter to the editor Deshaun Thomas placed in the school’s paper a couple days ago.
Thomas finished his career No. 9 in all-time scoring at Ohio State with 1,630 points. He led the Big Ten Conference in scoring as a junior with 19.8 points per game. His total of 733 points last season is third most in Ohio State history. Deshaun Thomas started the final 76 games of his career and appeared in 113 games as a Buckeye. He is one of 25 players in Ohio State history to reach at least 1,000 points and 500 rebounds (560).
Thomas has a kid, so that no doubt was a factor in his decision to go pro. A man’s got to provide for his family.
We see him as an early second round pick in 2013. His offense is the strength in his game, and NBA scouts love his length, height and size.
His weaknesses include conditioning; like Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams, he may need to drop some weight before the combine in order to increase his draft stock. You’ll remember Deron Williams saw his stock rise in 2005 after losing the “baby fat” he had with the Illini. Also Deshaun Thomas playing defense is non-existent.
In the words of OSU coach Thad Matta at the 2012 Big Ten Tournament, “I called him eshaun sometimes because there’s no d in Deshaun.”
He’s kidding of course.
Sort of.
Deshaun Thomas made positive strides his sophomore season, what was the key?
“Just being in the gym, getting shots up, just having fun. I mean, going in practice, playing against our second string, just playing it like it’s a game,” Thomas told me that year.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, a Google News site generating millions of visitors. He’s an author who also contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
Banks has appeared on Comcast SportsNet and the History Channel, as well as Clear Channel, ESPN and CBS radio all over the world. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@PaulMBanks)