| Syesha Thomas |
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 | Class:
Senior
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| Hometown:
Bellevue, WA
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| High School:
Interlake
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| Height:
5-6
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| Position:
Guard
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| Experience:
3V
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PERSONAL: Born in Milan, Italy...daughter of James Thomas and Jewel Milton...father is a professional basketball player and coach in Argentina...has one older brother, James, 23...is in the College of Liberal Arts and is a philosophy major.
OREGON STATE (1999-00) Junior: Syesha has seen her game improve with each season.…was the eighth-leading scorer on the team with a 4.3 average…fifth on team in assists with 52…scored at least one three-point field goal in 13 games…first start was against Wichita State (12/10) in Hawaii Invitational Tournament…produced a career-high 14 points against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (12/12) while playing all 45 minutes of the overtime game…scored in double figures against Idaho State (11/26) with 11 points…sank two free throws with 4.8 seconds left in California (1/15) game to assure OSU of 53-50 victory…has played in 77 games in her OSU career and has started seven…has scored 203 points (2.6 ppg) and has 113 assists in three seasons at OSU.
OREGON STATE (1998-99) Sophomore: Syesha played in 26 games, missing the Washington State game on 1/15...scored 73 points (2.8 ppg), pulled down 20 rebounds and produced 38 assists and 16 steals...shot .388 from the field, .318 from 3-point range and .667 from the foul line...averaged 14.5 minutes per game...scored 11 points, her first double-figure scoring game, in OSU's third game of the year against Eastern Washington (11/27)...had a very strong performance at Portland (12/9) when she gave the Beavers a huge spark off the bench and scored 5 points, including a 3-pointer, but it was her defense and pushing the ball up the court at point guard that stood out... played 7 minutes and scored 4 points in Pac-10 opener vs. Stanford (1/2), which earned her 30 minutes of playing time against California (1/4), a game in which she registered a career high 8 assists in helping OSU to a 54-52 victory...had a tough road trip to UCLA (1/8) and USC (1/10) while scoring 6 points...did not play the next week against WSU (1/15) and played only one minute vs. Washington (1/17)...bounced back and scored 11 points, hitting all 4 of her shots from the field in 13 minutes of play at Arizona State (1/21)...failed to score in next two games, at Arizona (1/23) and Oregon (1/29)...produced personal highs of 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and 5 rebounds vs. UCLA (2/6) in 28 minutes...this redeemed an earlier performance at UCLA (1/8) when she committed 6 turnovers in 11 minutes...scored 6 points in the Arizona (2/19) and ASU (2/21) games at Corvallis...failed to score vs. Oregon (2/26) and at California (3/4), but played a career-high 35 minutes at Stanford (3/6) in the season finale.
OREGON STATE (1997-98) Freshman: Syesha earned a letter as a true freshman in 1997-98 by playing in a total of 22 games and logging a total of 150 minutes of action...had double figure playing time in four games...played 22 minutes in a game at Washington for her longest one-game action...on the season, Syesha tallied six points, with a high of 4 vs. Arizona at Gill Coliseum...had 23 steals with individual highs of 6 vs. Portland State and 5 at Washington...picked off 6 steals and had 13 rebounds.
INTERLAKE HIGH SCHOOL: Syesha played for Coach Alan Russell at Interlake High School...was one of the premier junior players in the State of Washington and committed to Oregon State prior to the start of her senior season...helped lead Interlake to a 16-6 record her senior year...scored 274 points (12.5 average); shot .426 from the field (92-216); shot .273 from 3-point range (15-55); shot .634 from the foul line (45-71); picked off 103 rebounds (4.7 average); had 91 steals and 86 assists...gained valuable experience playing for Jim Webster's Seattle Magic team in the summer following her junior year.
THOMAS PERSONALITY FILE
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE OSU: It was a place where I felt that I could grow, both on and off the court
WHERE IS THE PLACE THAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO VISIT: I want to visit the seven wonders of the world
IF I COULD GIVE ADVISE TO MY INCOMING TEAMMATES IT WOULD BE: Control the things you can and don't worry about what you can't control
MY FAVORITE MOVIE: Matrix
FAVORITE MIDNIGHT SNACK: Honey snacks
