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Latvian women’s basketball flagship “TTT RigaThe leader of the American match joined on Friday Jessica Thomas, the unit was informed by LETA.
The contract with the American is concluded for one season.
“We tried for a long time to find the leader of the basic match – we chose Jessica from a wide range of candidates. After a detailed video analysis and conversation with the player, I realized that she will be able to create the necessary extra dimension in the attack, creating situations for both herself and colleagues. It is important that she does not spare herself in defense. Jessica is an individual strong basketball player – we hope that her skills will help us become better, ”the club quotes head coach Mārtiņš Gulbs.
“I am excited about the great opportunity. I have a good idea of the upcoming season and work under the coach Gulbis. He builds confidence in his plan, trusts his leadership abilities. I am very grateful for the opportunity and look forward to a successful start in the Euroleague, ”said the match manager after joining the capital’s team.
During his studies, Thomas represented the Miami Hurricanes team. The defense played in the strong ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) league, starting 100 of the 130 games in the Hurricanes. In the fourth season, the basketball player scored an average of 13.0 points (the second best score), as well as being the best Miami player in passes (3.9) and caught balls (1.6).
During her career at Hurricane, she scored an average of 9.9 points, bounced 2.7 rebounds and scored 2.9 assists. In this team, she scored a total of 1281 points, 347 rebounds and 374 assists.
The player has a master’s degree in sports administration. The family has three older brothers – Eric, Darren and Lamar (former NFL footballer for the Buccaneers and Dolphins, Miami Hall of Fame).
After graduating from high school, Thomas tested his strength at the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) club’s San Antonio Silver Stars training camp. The first attempt to enter the league was followed by playing in the Swedish (Luleå “Basket”) and Greek (Athens “Olympiacos”) clubs.
In the player’s debut season, the Euroleague scored an average of 9.8 points in 26.9 minutes, won 2.9 balls under the baskets and made 2.4 passes. The American also scored 42% of two points.
From Athens, the player traveled to Australia, where he joined Fordham graduates Jameris Davis for the Queensland basketball league (QBL; also NBL1 North) team at the Rockton Cyclones.
Tomasa scored 22.8 points in an average of 36.3 minutes in 12 games, won 6.4 balls and made 6.4 passes, as well as 40.2% three-point shots (43/107) – the second place in the regular season.
Thomas is a graduate of Buchholz High School – an average of 32.0 points per game in the 2013 season. Florida Miss Basketball (2013) also represented the Buchholz golf team.
The basketball player is also a participant in the second five of the ACC championship (2016 and 2017), Swedish champion and MVP (2018), Greek champion (2019), Queensland league semi-finalist (2019).
It has already been reported that the team’s ranks were previously supplemented by Latvian national team player Ilze Jākobsone, but another season in Riga will be spent by Binta Drameha from Sweden.
Last season, “TTT Rīga” took the last place among eight teams in the subgroup of the Euroleague main tournament and did not qualify for the elimination tournament. The Rigans later triumphed in the Baltic Basketball League and after the main event of the Latvian Women’s Basketball League was stopped, they were confirmed as the winners of the national championship.
“TTT Rīga” club was founded in 2007 by Riga City Council and SIA “Rīgas satiksme”.
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