BOSTON, Ma. - San Francisco's Malik Thomas is one of 35 student-athletes selected by CollegeInsider.com as a finalist for the 2024-25 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in college basketball.
 
The Lou Henson award honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons.

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of CollegeInsider.com. The 2025 award will be announced in San Antonio, TX, site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship.
 
Thomas' selection marks the second straight season in which a student-athlete from San Francisco has made the list after Jonathan Mogbo was selected in 2023-24.
 
Thomas put together an impressive campaign on both sides of the ball this season as the guard finished the regular season leading the WCC in points per game (19.1), total points (527), steals per game (1.7) and total steals (50). Overall, his 527 total points was also tops in the conference and good for 27^th in Division I. Throughout the regular season, Thomas finished with 20 points or more in 14 games, including three 30+ point performances. Notably, he put up a career-high 35 points to lead San Francisco to a 76-66 victory over Loyola Chicago at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisc. on Dec. 15.
 
Thomas was also efficient at getting to the free throw line this year as he ranked first in the WCC and 15^th nationally in made free throws with 156. His 187 free throw attempts also ranked second in the WCC and 35^th nationally. Alongside his backcourt mate Marcus Williams, Thomas finished in the top ten (sixth) in the league with 60 made three-pointers this season. For these efforts, Thomas earned WCC Player of the Week honors four times this season. Most recently, Thomas surpassed 1,000 career points in USF's 84-61 win at San Diego on Feb. 15. At the conclusion of the regular season, Thomas was named to the 2024-25 All-WCC Men's Basketball First Team. Thomas has now earned All-WCC recognition both years in the green and gold after being named a Honorable Mention in 2023-24.
 
Guiding San Francisco to the semifinal round of the WCC Championship for the fourth straight season, Thomas tallied 18 points in USF's 86-75 quarterfinal win over Washington State on Mar. 9 followed by tying Graham Ike with a game-high 27 points against Gonzaga in the semifinal on Mar. 10.
 
The full list of the 2024-25 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award finalists are listed below:
 
LOU HENSON AWARD FINALISTS:

Daniel Batcho	6-11	Sr.	Louisiana Tech
Ante Brzovic	6-10	Sr.	Charleston
Adam "Budd" Clark	5-10	So.	Merrimack
Zach Cleveland	6-7	Jr.	Liberty
Oscar Cluff	6-11	Sr.	South Dakota State
Tayton Conerway	6-3	Sr.	Troy
Mark Freeman	5-11	Sr.	James Madison
Javohn Garcia	6-3	Sr.	McNeese
Kimani Hamilton	6-8	Jr.	High Point
Barrington Hargress	6-0	So.	UC Riverside
Jalen Jackson	6-2	Jr.	Purdue Fort Wayne
Nate Johnson	6-3	Jr.	Akron
Jordan Jones	6-0	Sr.	Central Connecticut State
Jacari Lane	6-0	Jr.	North Alabama
Bent Leuchten	7-1	Sr.	UC Irvine
Augustas Marciulionis	6-4	Sr.	Saint Mary's
Jordan Marsh	5-10	So.	UNC Asheville
Bez Mbeng	6-4	Sr.	Yale
Brian Moore, Jr.	6-2	Sr.	Norfolk State
Paulius Murauskas	6-8	So.	Saint Mary's
Dominick Nelson	6-5	Jr.	Utah Valley
Jacob Ognacevic	6-8	Sr.	Lipscomb
Quimari Peterson	6-1	Sr.	ETSU
Jaron Pierre Jr.	6-6	Sr.	Jacksonville State
John Poulakidas	6-6	Sr.	Yale
Matt Rogers	6-9	Sr.	American
PJay Smith Jr.	6-0	Sr.	Furman
Bennett Stirtz	6-4	Jr.	Drake
Marquel Sutton	6-9	Sr.	Omaha
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones	6-6	Sr.	UC San Diego
Ray'Sean Taylor	6-1	Sr.	SIU Edwardsville
Tyler Tejada	6-9	So.	Towson
Malik Thomas	6-5	Sr.	San Francisco
Earl Timberlake	6-6	Sr.	Bryant
Nick Townsend	6-7	Jr.	Yale

 
To view the full press release from College Insider, please click here.

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