TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Phoenix Mercury signed forward Sam Thomas to an injury replacement contract on June 21 before their game against the Las Vegas Aces.
Thomas, who made 24 appearances for the Mercury during her debut season in 2022, signed a training camp contract with Phoenix back in February.
However, on May 16, just a few days before the 2023 regular season began, Thomas was released from the contract.
On May 29, 2022, at Atlanta, she scored her first WNBA points of her career. On August 14, 2022, against Chicago, she scored a career-high six points. Thomas was selected for the 2022 AP WNBA All-Rookie Team. Thomas was one of two undrafted rookies to make an opening night roster.
In 28 league games played with the Italian club Dinamo Sassari during the 2022 summer, Thomas averaged 10.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 steals. Thomas improved on those numbers, averaging 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.0 steals in 10 Eurocup games.
Las Vegas, Nevada native and five-year starter Thomas played for the University of Arizona, where she concluded her career with 5,125 minutes in 154 games played, good for first place all-time in the history of the school. In program history, Thomas finished her career with top-10 career rankings in the following categories: scoring (1,382), made three-point field goals (219), three-point field goal percentage (37.18), blocks (198), and steals (264). She was named the Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2021, a member of the CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American Team in 2021 and 2022, and the 2018 Arizona Athletics Female Freshman of the Year.
In her senior year, she also won the Elite 90 Award for having the highest GPA of any student-athlete at the Final Four.
