Bailey Thomas

Classroom

Thomas completed her Accounting BSBA with a 3.92 in three years and spent all six undergraduate semesters on the Dean’s Honor List.

Thomas will graduate with a master’s in accounting in the Spring of 2020, completing it in just one year! Thomas currently has a 4.0 cumulative GPA in grad school with one semester left and finished an internship at Ernest and Young this past summer, which has already led to a full-time job once she graduates. Thomas has already passed 2 of the 4 CPA tests, as well.

Character

Thomas is one of the top leaders, not only on the team, but among the entire student-athlete population at UNLV. Thomas is a leader on the SAAC committee, having been a member since she arrived at UNLV, also serving on student-athlete committees at the Mountain West.

Thomas is a team leader, overwhelming choice as team captain, and easily the hardest worker on the team. Thomas is always willing to be spokesperson for her team, the department, and the university.

Community

Author Simon Sinek is quoted as saying, “leadership is not a license to do less; leadership is a responsibility to do more.” This approach to leading summarizes the contributions that Thomas has made and continues to make during her time at UNLV. A team player on the court, Thomas translates her generous spirit most notably in her community outreach efforts.

As a three year member of our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Thomas has volunteered on countless community projects, many of which she was a key organizer. As a year-round community volunteer, Thomas has served at our local food bank, Three Square, spent time writing letters to health care workers and other front line professionals, but the most notable contributions are the ones that Bailey has made in impacting our future generations. She steps up most regularly as a role model in our community, attending the Nevada Youth Network, participating in countless basketball clinics at elementary schools, and leading group activities at annual events like Take Your Child to Work Day and National Girls and Women’s in Sports Day. Thomas shines when connecting with our local youth, specifically leading a high school assembly with seven other of her peers where they discussed the importance of building good study habits, preparing for college, expanding horizons, and lessons on how to be a good teammate and overcoming adversity. A total of 49 local high schools were invited to attend and Thomas’ contributions and lessons learned through her lens were impactful.

Competition

After spending her freshman year at West Virginia, Thomas transferred to UNLV and earned a spot on the Mountain West All-Defensive teams as both a sophomore and junior. Known as the top defensive stopper in the conference, Thomas was named the MW Defensive Player of the Year in 2019-20.

The only returning starter at UNLV for the second straight season, Thomas is currently averaging a career-high 9.4 points per game while shooting a career-best 41.4% from three-point range. Thomas also never leaves the court, and ranks 15th in the nation in minutes played per game at 38.1 mpg.