Lady Bulldog forward LaToya Thomas finished her third season in the same fashion as her first two years at Mississippi State: nationally recognized. She rounded out her list of awards from this season with her third-straight Kodak All-American honor, which recognizes the top 10 players in the country as voted on by coaches from around the nation. The 6-2 junior from Greenville, Miss., spent a few days last week in San Antonio, Texas, where the women’s NCAA Final Four was held. Aside from
receiving her Kodak All-American award, Thomas was also recognized on television for the second consecutive year. ESPN and ESPN the Magazine named her their women’s Power Forward of the Year. She accepted the accolade live on ESPN last Thursday.
“It was fun being there, but not as much fun as if we were playing,” Thomas said after returning from her trip to the Lone Star State.
Thomas was named to the five-member Associated Press All-America first team for the first time this year. She earned second team honors one year ago.
Also for the first time this season, she was recognized as a United States Basketball Writers’ Association All-American.
For the second straight season, Thomas was named as one of the top three finalists for the prestigious Naismith Player of the Year Award. She also earned a spot on
Thomas, who is only the fifth player to lead the Southeastern Conference in scoring for three consecutive years, will return for her senior season as Mississippi State’s all-time leading scorer, including both men’s and women’s basketball.
She became the first Lady Bulldog to reach the 2,000-point plateau on Feb. 14, 2002, against Final Four participant Tennessee and finished this season with 2,187 points in 94 games, an average of 23.3 points per outing. That total puts her ahead of the only two MSU men’s players to ever reach that mark. Jeff Malone and Bailey Howell, who both played in the NBA, scored 2,142 and 2,030 points in their respective careers. Malone played 110 games in his four-year career while Howell played in just 75 contests during his three-year career. After leading the league in scoring with 24.6 points per game, Thomas was named first-team All-SEC by the coaches and the Associated Press for the third year in a row. The AP also named Thomas as the 2002 SEC Player of the Year.
She currently holds 21 Mississippi State records. Thomas has been named SEC Player of the Week five times in her career, including three times during the 2001-02 campaign. She is only the seventh SEC women’s basketball player to earn the award three times in one season.