| Matt Thomas |
|
|
A two-year letterwinner with a wealth of experience... Provides a different look at the point guard position with his size, vision and ability to get to the rim... A sure-handed guard, he protects the ball very well as he has recorded more assists than turnovers in each of his first three seasons at San Diego State... Teams with Richie Williams as one of the most experienced backcourts in the Mountain West Conference... Is recovering from a back injury and hopes to be at full strength for the 2007-08 season for the first time in two years... Continues to improve on his outside shooting and on-ball defending.
As A Junior (2006-07 Season)
Missed the first 14 games of the season as he was recovering from a back injury... Made his first appearance of 2006-07 vs. Wyoming (1-3-07) and made an immediate impact with two points (1-1), one rebound, one block and a steal in 12 minutes off the bench... Made his first start of the season for an ill Richie Williams at Brigham Young (1-6-07) and had a season-best four assists in 18 minutes of action... Did not play in a single game following the BYU game in Provo... Only committed 10 turnovers in his last 20 games dating back to the 2005-06 season spanning 207 minutes... In those 20 games, 13 of them have been of the turnover-free variety.
As A Sophomore (2005-06 Season)
Played in 28 games while receiving the starting nod on six occasions despite battling a back injury all season... Played 13 or more minutes in 13 games... Logged double-digit minutes 15 times... Started a season-high five consecutive times in the absence of Kyle Spain... In games in which he started, the Aztecs were 5-1... The only loss was a two-point defeat vs. Utah (2-11-06)... His 28 games played were tied for the sixth-highest total on the team... His 31 assists were the fourth highest total on the squad despite ranking ninth in minutes played... Led San Diego State in assists on three occasions (vs. Southern Mississippi on Nov. 20, Maryland-Baltimore County on Dec. 20 and at Colorado State on Feb. 4)... The Aztecs won all three of those games... San Diego State went 12-3 in games in which he played 10 or more minutes... Started five consecutive games from Feb. 4-18, committing just one turnover in those five games (covered a span of 87 minutes)... Charged with two turnovers in his final 11 games of the season (covering a span of 121 minutes)... Ended the season with a streak of 17 consecutive games without committing more than one turnover in a game... His role increased as the season progressed... Over the last 13 games of the season (from Feb. 4th on), he was seventh in playing time (12.2 minutes), sixth in games started (5) and fourth in assists (14)... Continued to keep his poise in hostile environments... Turned the ball over just 10 times in 17 road/neutral games and 190 minutes on the court... Had one turnover or less in 22 of his final 25 games... Against Colorado State in the MWC quarterfinals (3-9-06), played 19 minutes and contributed four points, four rebounds, one steal and an assist... In 14 minutes against South Dakota State (3-3-06), he had two points, four rebounds and three assists... Provided SDSU with a bigger presence at the point guard position in 25 minutes of action at UNLV (2-16-06)... Scored four points and dished out five assists in 25 minutes of action at Colorado State (2-4-06)... Scored four points and also grabbed a season-high three rebounds in the overtime victory at Wyoming (1-28-06)... Made his first start of the 2005-06 season vs. Maryland-Baltimore County (12-20-05)... Recorded four assists against the Retrievers in 26 minutes of action... Blocked a career-high two shots against UC Santa Barbara (12-17-05)... Scored in three consecutive games at San Diego (11-30-05), vs. Point Loma Nazarene and at California (12-6-05), a streak broken against Washington State (12-10-05)... Played 18 minutes and scored a season-high nine points against Point Loma Nazarene (12-3-05)... Made a season-high four field goals vs. the Sea Lions... Had a career-high seven assists and just one turnover in 29 minutes of action against Southern Mississippi (11-20-05).
As A Freshman (2004-05 Season)
MWC Rankings: 15th in steals
An honorable mention all-Mountain West Conference performer as announced by the league and as voted upon by the coaches and the media... Of the 29 players recognized by the league, he joined Colorado State's Jason Smith as the only freshman to earn all-conference recognition... One of only two nominated players for MWC freshman of the year honors... Became the fourth Aztec freshman to earn a position on the honorable mention all-conference team in the last three years, following Evan Burns (2003), Brandon Heath (2004) and Marcus Slaughter (2004)... One of five Aztec players to see action in all 29 games last season and his 11 starts were the 6th highest total on the squad... Both numbers were also team highs among the freshman class... Despite being a true freshman, he ranked among the team leaders in nearly all the major categories, including 2nd in assists (43), 4th in scoring (6.1), 4th in rebounding (3.4), 4th in steals (32), 4th in efficiency points (173) and 4th in minutes played (659)... Bucked the freshman trend and actually produced bigger numbers as the season progressed... Numbers by month: November: 5.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.0 apg; December: 5.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg; January: 3.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.9 apg; February/March: 8.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.8 apg... In the final two months of the season, covering the final 10 games, he was third on the team in scoring, second in rebounding and third in assists on the squad... Ranked among the league leaders of the freshman class in nearly every category including 1st in free throws, 1st in free throws attempted, 1st in steals, 2nd in rebounding, 3rd in scoring, 3rd in assists and 5th in blocked shots... Among SDSU's Division I era freshmen, Thomas also proved impressive, ranking 4th in free throws made, 5th in free throws attempted, tied for 8th in steals, 13th in rebounds, 13th in minutes played, 17th in points and tied for 21st in games started... Started the final eight games of the season, the second longest active streak on the squad behind Brandon Heath's 19-game streak... Had a string of 10 consecutive free throws made broken against Saint Mary's (12-14-04) but made 62-of-86 (72.1 percent) after making just 3-of-9 to open the season... Made 17 of this last 22 (77.2 percent) free-throw attempts of the season... His 43 assists were the second most on the team, despite averaging 22.7 minutes per game, the fifth highest total on the squad... With 43 assists and 37 turnovers he joined Brandon Heath and Tyler Smith as the only Aztec players with more assists than turnovers... Tied a then career-best with 14 points at New Mexico (1-31-05)... Had a string of at least one assist in seven games broken against Saint Mary's (12-14-04)... Recorded a rebound in 25-of-29 games, including the final 14 games of the season... Had just 17 turnovers in his last 393 minutes of play (one turnover every 23.1 minutes)... Had just six multiple turnover games in the final 22 outings of the season... Produced 10 turnover-free games, including four times when he played at least 30 minutes... Had at least three rebounds in 10 of the final 11 games of the season... Posted five games with at least three steals... Scored in double-figures seven times, including three times in the final six games of the 2004-05 season... Set a career high with 20 points against Air Force (2-28-05)... Also set career highs in free-throws (12) and free-throw attempts (13)... Had 14 points and 10 rebounds against UNLV (2-12-05) for his first double-double of his career... That was the only double-double recorded by a player other than Marcus Slaughter during the season... Also set career highs in the UNLV game in rebounds (10), minutes (40) and tied his then career high in points (14)... Also had four assists and his third block of the season against UNLV... Recorded consecutive double-figure scoring games for the first time in his career with 20 points vs. Air Force (2-28-05) and 14 points at Utah (3-5-05) to close out the regular season... Nearly had another double-double two games later at Wyoming (2-21-05) when he scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds... Also had a career-high four steals... Had 14 points and tied his career-high of four steals at Utah (3-5-05)... Made his first career start and played a then career-high 32 minutes against Saint Mary's (12-14-04).
High School
Attended Martin Luther King High in Riverside, Calif... A two-time All-Southern Section selection, Thomas helped lead the Wolves to a 99-21 record in his four seasons, including the 2002 Divison II California state championship and a number 13 national ranking, according to USA Today... Averaged 16.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, six assists and five steals during his senior campaign... In 2003-04, King High went 26-5, while Thomas recorded 31 double-doubles and eight triple-doubles.
