Amanda Thompson

Classroom

Thompson will graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in communication in May 2009.  Thompson was an Academic All-Big 12 Conference first team member last year and has made academics a priority among a team that has some of the highest standards at Oklahoma.  Under head coach Sherri Coale, the women’s basketball team has recorded a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better in 23 of the past 26 semesters. Thompson has steadily improved her grade point average each year.  She has been named a Sooner Scholar in five straight semesters and to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll four times, the Dean’s Honor Roll twice and the President’s Honor Roll once.

Character

A testament to Thompson’s character is that her teammates have voted her team captain since she was a sophomore.  An example of her extraordinary teamwork was displayed during the Sooners’ 2009 Final Four run when a foot injury kept Thompson out of the starting lineup and on the sidelines for the majority of the games in the NCAA Championship. Thompson used the time as an opportunity to watch each teammate’s play and make herself a better, and more vocal leader. She became a coach and mentor on the bench and in practices, helping her teammates work through problems on and off the court. Most recently, Thompson was named OU’s student-athlete of the month for October 2009.  It’s an honor that is awarded to someone who excels in the same four categories as the Lowe’s Senior CLASSS Award and it is one rarely given to a student-athlete outside of their respective sport’s playing season.  Thompson has also achieved the athletics department’s highest service honor for a student-athlete, the Athletics Council Service Award, twice.

Community

Thompson’s involvement with numerous community service programs was a key reason the women’s basketball team won OU’s CHAMPS/Life Skills Award in 2009, beating 17 other sports teams.  While her favorite is working with the Sooner Big Sis Program—where members of OU’s women’s basketball team read weekly to an elementary school class—she is involved with countless others. This year, she and her teammates volunteer at Food and Shelter for Friends in Norman, Okla. The organization helps feed, house and educate the estimated 600 homeless and transitioning families in the Sooners’ home city.  Since arriving at OU, Thompson has participated in numerous initiatives with local charities, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, OU Children’s Hospital, Special Spectators, Meals on Wheels and the Mary Abbott Children’s House, where she served as a companion and role model to victims of physical and sexual abuse.

Competition

Thompson enters 2009-10 with career averages of 7.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists.  She is fifth on OU’s career blocks list with 86 and is the first Sooner under 6-foot-2 to record more than 30 blocks in a season, which she has done twice.  Thompson has also redefined toughness as a basketball player at Oklahoma.  She suffered a torn labrum in her shooting shoulder in December of her freshman year, but opted to play out the year instead of having surgery.  Despite the pain, Thompson earned a starting spot for the final nine games of the senior-laden team’s season.  Her efforts helped OU to a Sweet 16 appearance and a spot on the All-Big 12 Freshman Team. As a junior, she suffered a foot injury that kept her off the court for much OU’s NCAA championship run that ended in the 2009 Final Four.