May 11, 2012
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder announced that Kathy Thomas has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Iowa next fall. Thomas, a native of Flint, Mich., played one season at Highland Community College (Kansas) and will have three years of eligibility at Iowa.
Thomas led Highland to the most successful season in school history in 2010-11 as the Scotties finished 28-4 overall, placed second in the Jayhawk Conference and recorded an NJCAA Division II District B finals appearance. It was the first winning season for Highland since 1984.
Thomas was named an NJCAA first team All-American after averaging 22 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.9 steals. She was also named the Jayhawk Conference Player and Freshman of the Year and was a first team All-Region selection.
“We are thrilled to have Kathy join our team,” Bluder said. “She had a tremendous freshman year at Highland Community College, where she was an NJCAA All-American as a freshman. She will help fill the void that we have at our point guard position. It’s also nice that we will have her as a Hawkeye for three seasons.”
Thomas attended Flint Hamady High School and was teammates with current Michigan State junior Jasmine Thomas. Thomas helped lead her high school team to back-to-back state titles as a sophomore and junior, scoring 15 points in the state championship game as a sophomore and recording the game-winning assist in a double overtime win as a junior. Thomas also guided Flint Hamady to conference, district and regional crowns as a sophomore, junior and senior.
Thomas earned third team All-State honors as a senior, along with first team All-Conference recognition as a junior and senior. She holds the Flint Hamady school record for career assists and steals, leading the conference in those categories as a junior and senior.
As a senior, Thomas nearly averaged a triple-double with 13.2 points, 8.9 assists and 9.8 steals per game.
Thomas also excels in the classroom. In high school, she was a member of the silver and bronze honor roll and ranked 16th in her class, academically.
Thomas will join the 2012 recruiting class, comprised of four freshmen who signed in the fall. They include Claire Till (G, Dubuque, Iowa), Kayla Timmerman (F, Wayzata, Minn.), Kali Peschel (G, Alexandria, Minn.) and Nicole Smith (C, Rockton, Ill.).