Deon Thomas

Deon Thomas was born in 1971 in Chicago

Deon Thomas was born on February 24, 1971, in Chicago. He played for Simeon Vocational High School and led its team to the Chicago Public League title in 1988. In 1989 he graduated and was named Illinois Mr. Basketball.

He played 4 years at the University of Illinois. He finished his college career as the program's all-time leading scorer, with 2,129 points.

The Dallas Mavericks picked him 28th in the 1994 NBA draft, but he never played in the NBA. He played in Spain, joined Maccabi Rishon LeZion in 1998, and later played in Turkey. With Maccabi Tel Aviv he won 2 Israeli titles, 2 State Cups and 2 Euroleague titles.

A broken leg kept him out of the 2005 Final Four and led to his release from Maccabi. He then played in Greece and Bulgaria, and in Israel for Maccabi Givat Shmuel and Maccabi Haifa.

In 2009 he became head coach at Lewis and Clark Community College. In 2014 he became an assistant coach at the University of Illinois-Chicago, and from 2016 he called Illinois games on radio. He is married to Dafna and has 2 daughters.