Chris Thomas (basketball player)

Polish American basketball player

Christopher Ryan Thomas (born October 3, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who is an alumnus of Pike High School and the University of Notre Dame.

Thomas led the Pike High School Red Devils to 2 state titles in his 4 years at Pike. In 2001, he was named Indiana's "Mr. Basketball". He was also named 2001 McDonald's All American and 2001 Indiana All Star.

Big Chris received many post season awards such as Big East Conference Freshman of the Year. He also won the National Freshman of the Year by Basketball Times and Basketball News. He finished as the team's second leading scorer with a 15.6 scoring average.

An honorable mention Associated Press selection. His numbers were up from last season as Chris finished the season second in scoring again with an 18.7 scoring average. He became the 43rd player in Notre Dame basketball history to score 1,000 career points and just seventh player to reach the mark in his second season. Coming off a season where he garnered Associated Press honorable mention All American honors, Thomas declared himself eligible for the 2003 NBA draft on May 6, 2003. After participating in individual workouts with a number of teams, Thomas never got a guarantee he would be a first round pick, which meant a guaranteed three year contract. Thomas withdrew on June 6 to return to Notre Dame for the 2003 04 year.

He was named to the Associated Press Honorable Mention selection and BIG EAST second team honoree for the second straight year. He became the career leader in assists with 638, setting the record in home game against Connecticut on February 9, 2004. He is the only player in Notre Dame basketball history to score more than 1,700 points and dish off 600 plus assists.

Chris never missed a game during his Irish career and started all 128 contests despite undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery for a cartilage tear in left kneecap on April 9. Despite playing with knee injury throughout the season, averaged 14.2 points, 6.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds in 38.3 minutes per game.