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Angleton grad switching colleges
Published July 24, 2007
Former Angleton star Dominique Thomas left quite a mark at Houston Baptist University, but has chosen to finish her collegiate career at Langston University in Oklahoma.
The three-time NAIA All-American and three-time Red River Conference All-Conference point guard realized it was time for a change when HBU sought NCAA Division I status.
By moving from NAIA to the NCAA, Houston Baptist will be in a seven-year provisional process.
“With HBU going D-1, we having nothing to play for, no conference championship. With it being my senior year, I want to play for something,” Thomas said. “The move was a personal decision, but I wanted a light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the day, I wanted to compete for something.”
A three-year starter for the Lady Huskies, Thomas helped the team to a 91-14 record, including three consecutive Red River Conference championships and three NAIA national tournament Elite Eight appearances.
“It wasn’t tough at all once I heard about the switch, because I wanted to go somewhere where I could get noticed,” Thomas said.
Langston is in the same conference as Houston Baptist, and defeated the Lady Huskies twice last season.
“During my stay, we had never had a team beat us twice during the season, but we were a young team this year,” Thomas said. “Not taking anything away from Langston; they knew and did their job. I’ve been around their coaches and players, and like their style of basketball.”
Thomas became HBU’s all-time assist leader this season after posting 276 for the Lady Huskies to give her 645 for her career. She recorded 215 in 2006 and 154 in her redshirt freshman year.
Thomas broke the mark Feb. 19 when she had seven assists in a 76-70 win over Texas College. Twice during her stay, she set the single-game assist mark with 17 — both against Texas College.
In her final year with HBU, Thomas averaged 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 3.5 steals per contest. She was the first player in school history to lead the nation in a statistical category with her assists total.
Thomas also departs from the school second all-time in steals (373), sixth in 3-pointers (109) and is the seventh player to score more than 1,000 points in a season with 1,202 this year.
She also was the Red River Conference player of the week three times in the past season.
“When I set the assists record, it wasn’t a plan or anything like that. I just have to credit my teammates, because without them scoring I couldn’t have done it,” Thomas said. “But when I think about it, it was awesome. But I believe in another three years, someone will come along and break it. But I will be happy if they do because it sets a bar for them.”
Last season, Thomas got international competition experience when she traveled with the USA Athletes International team to the European Basketball Series in Barcelona, Spain, and played against European teams.
“I didn’t know what to do when we got her — a big handclap or a backflip,” Langston University coach Donnita Drain said. “I am just sorry we are going to get her (only) for a year. I think she is going to fit in. When we played (HBU), she was the hardest player to stop. I am just glad to have her on our side.”
Before arriving at HBU, Thomas guided Angleton to the state semifinals in three of her four seasons as the team’s starting point guard. In her senior year, Thomas’ Ladycats made it to the state final.
“My ultimate plan as far as basketball is to play in the WNBA,” Thomas said. “I’d also be open about playing professional basketball anywhere. If that doesn’t work out, then I’d like to coach and teach.”
Langston and HBU will meet twice during the 2007-08 season.
Joel Luna is a sports writer for The Facts. He can be reached at (979) 237-0161.
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