Matt Thomas
- School
- Iowa State
- Position
- Guard
- Major
- Business
Classroom
Matt Thomas owns a 3.19 cumulative GPA while majoring in business at Iowa State. He has been a member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and in 2016 was an Academic All-Big 12 First Team honoree. An ISU Scholar-Athlete, Thomas was an Academic All-Big 12 Second Team honoree in 2015, as well. He has been featured in the business college’s magazine throughout his time at ISU, speaking about the benefits of the college.
Character
Thomas is a high character young man. His story was told in Doug Gottlieb’s story last season (http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/iowa-states-6th-man-and-the-struggle-of-grief-love-and-basketball/). It is a story of grief and redemption. Thomas has overcome a lot in his time and is using his experience to help others.
Community
Thomas is always open to doing community service. He spends a lot of time speaking to local schools about his experiences in life and overcoming challenges. Additionally, Thomas has worked with Special Olympics, Miracle League of Iowa and National Night Out. He’s also spent time using FaceTime to speak to classes across Iowa and visited local hospitals to visit with fans as well as people who work on the scorers table crew at games. Thomas was on Iowa State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which plays a major role in setting up community service opportunities for student-athletes. Among the opportunities included have been Soles 4 Souls (providing shoes for those in need around the world) and CyCans (collecting food for those in need).
Competition
Thomas had a breakout season for the Cyclones in 2015-16, earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades. Thomas started 27 games and played a career-best 33.6 minutes per game. He averaged 11.0 points per game and was second in the Big 12 averaging 2.5 three-pointers made per game. He was fourth in the conference shooting 43.2 percent from long distance, and his 89 3-pointers made were tied for the fourth-most in ISU single-season history. Thomas has connected on 165 career 3-pointers—the sixth-most in school history—and averaged 14 points in three NCAA Tournament games. He also scored in double figures 21 times last season.
