Flo Thamba
{{short description|Congolese basketball player}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Flo Thamba
| image =
| caption =
| number = 13
| position = Power forward / center
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 10
| weight_lbs = 245
| team = ADA Blois Basket 41
| league = LNB Pro B
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1999|2|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = DR Congo
| high_school = Mountain Mission School
(Grundy, Virginia)
| college = Baylor (2018–2023)
| draft_year = 2023
| career_start = 2023
| years1 = 2023–2024
| team1 = Jämtland Basket
| years2 = 2024–present
| team2 = ADA Blois
| highlights =
}}
Florent Thamba (born 25 February 1999) is a Congolese professional basketball player for ADA Blois Basket 41 of the LNB Pro B. He played college basketball for the Baylor Bears of the Big 12 Conference.
Early life
Thamba was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and lived in England and France during his childhood before settling in South Africa.{{cite web |last1=Hawkins |first1=Stephen |title=Baylor bigs: Flo, 'Everyday Jon' help make Bear guards great |url=https://collegebasketball.ap.org/article/baylor-bigs-flo-everyday-jon-help-make-bear-guards-great |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=31 March 2021}} At age 16, he moved to the United States to attend Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Virginia, where he played basketball for three seasons.{{cite web |last1=Hayes |first1=Tim |title=NCAA Final Four: Baylor's Thamba honed his skills at Grundy's Mountain Mission |url=https://heraldcourier.com/sports/ncaa-final-four-baylors-thamba-honed-his-skills-at-grundys-mountain-mission/article_05649ba6-9405-11eb-a817-a360b0d59dc2.html |website=Bristol Herald Courier |access-date=6 April 2021 |date=2 April 2021}} He committed to playing college basketball for Baylor over offers from Illinois, Virginia Tech and Nebraska.{{cite web |last1=Goodman |first1=Jeff |title=Flo Thamba's Path to Waco / How Baylor Was Built |url=https://watchstadium.com/flo-thambas-path-to-waco/ |website=Stadium |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=23 February 2021}}
College career
Thamba came off the bench during his first two years at Baylor. As a freshman, he averaged 1.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He averaged 2.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore. In his junior season, Thamba became a starter for one of the top teams in the nation. He averaged 3.6 points and four rebounds per game, helping Baylor win its first NCAA tournament title.{{cite web |last1=Hayes |first1=Tim |title=Men's College Basketball: Baylor's Flo Thamba takes to the big stage |url=https://heraldcourier.com/sports/mens-college-basketball-baylors-flo-thamba-takes-to-the-big-stage/article_44e9aaa4-9596-11eb-9c4e-b73c4fd503a2.html |website=Bristol Herald Courier |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=4 April 2021}} On 26 February 2022, Thamba scored a career-high 18 points in an 80–70 victory against Kansas.{{cite news |title=No. 10 Baylor rallies to beat No. 5 Kansas 80-70 in Big 12 |url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=401368427 |access-date=27 February 2022 |work=ESPN |agency=Associated Press |date=26 February 2022}}
Career statistics
{{NBA player statistics legend}}
=College=
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19
| style="text-align:left;"| Baylor
| 33 || 0 || 10.0 || .538 || – || .533 || 2.2 || .3 || .2 || .6 || 1.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20
| style="text-align:left;"| Baylor
| 19 || 0 || 9.1 || .481 || – || .567 || 2.2 || .1 || .1 || .7 || 2.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21
| style="text-align:left;"| Baylor
| 30 || 30 || 15.0 || .563 || – || .617 || 4.0 || .2 || .2 || .7 || 3.6
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 82 || 30 || 11.6 || .540 || – || .579 || 2.8 || .2 || .2 || .7 || 2.6
{{S-end}}
Personal life
Thamba's father, Emmanual, works in customs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His older brother, Levy, fatally fell from a hotel balcony in 2014 after consuming a marijuana edible.{{cite web |last1=Moore |first1=CJ |title=The tragedy that inspires Baylor center Flo Thamba |url=https://theathletic.com/2271453/2020/12/21/baylor-bears-flo-thamba-brother-death-college-basketball/ |website=The Athletic |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=21 December 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/178631/flo-thamba Proballers profile]
- [https://baylorbears.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/flo-thamba/10368 Baylor Bears bio]
{{2021 Baylor Bears basketball navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thamba, Flo}}
Category:ADA Blois Basket 41 players
Category:Baylor Bears men's basketball players
Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate basketball people in France
Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate basketball people in the United States
Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo men's basketball players
Category:Jämtland Basket players
Category:Basketball players from Kinshasa
Category:21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen