April 16, 2003
WACO, Texas - Baylor University has signed highly recruited Harvey Thomas of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M to a national letter of intent, head basketball coach Dave Bliss announced Wednesday.
"We are thrilled to have a player the caliber of Harvey Thomas as part of our program," Bliss said. "He continues our efforts towards being more of a full-court basketball team."
Thomas played one season at NEO after transferring from Georgetown, where he played 28 games as a freshman in 2001-2002. He was rated the No. 3 junior college power forward by Lindy's prior to last season, and is rated No. 37 on NBAdraft.net's Class of 2005 rankings.
"At 6-8 Harvey is capable of playing a Scottie Pippen-like guard position," Bliss said. "We feel he'll be exciting for our fans to watch."
Thomas helped guide Northeastern Oklahoma A&M to a 21-11 record in 2002-2003 and to the Region II semifinals. Thomas led NEO with 13.8 points per game and received Bi-State East Division honorable mention recognition.
As a freshman at Georgetown, Thomas averaged 5.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 14.3 minutes per game. He tallied four double-digit scoring games and shot 30.8 percent from the 3-point line.
Coming out of high school in 2000, Thomas was a national top-30 recruit. He was rated the nation's No. 2 small forward by Athlon Sports and the No. 20 recruit overall by Rivals.com. Hoop Scoop rated Thomas a Top-30 player and Basketball News ranked him No. 31. He was an Adidas ABCD Camp All-American selection.
Thomas averaged 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks per game as a junior at Mount Zion Christian Academy in Durham, N.C., the alma mater of Tracy McGrady. Thomas graduated from Hamilton High School in Memphis, Tenn., but did not play basketball his senior season.
Thomas is Baylor's second signee of 2002-2003, joining Tyrone Nelson of Hempstead, Texas, who signed in the early signing period last November.
BAYLOR SIGNEES:
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (previous schools)Tyrone Nelson F/C 6-9 200 Fr. Hempstead, Texas (Hempstead HS)Harvey Thomas F 6-8 210 Jr. Fredericksburg, Va. (Mt. Zion [N.C.]/Georgetown/Northeastern Okla. A&M)
