Bearcat Retrospective: Ibrahima Thomas

Ibrahima Thomas, a Senior transfer from Oklahoma State had a very solid season as a starter for Mick Cronin and the Bearcats. Ibrahima, born in Dakar, Senegal, and 2007 HS grad of Stone Ridge Prep made his way to Cincy due to being dismissed from Oklahoma State in 2009, it got real messy between Ibrahima and Coach Travis Ford. Quite simply, Thomas fit the mold that brings so many transfers to Cincy: questionable history, long defender, and raw on offense. Cincinnati officially signed him on January 6th 2009.

The long 6'11" Forward contributed fairly well for the Bearcats in 2011 as a great defender and rebounder.

Heres the basic stats for Ibrahima (season averages)

Ibrahima Thomas achieved career highs in FT% and AST per game. He also improved his Assist per Turnover with a 0.8 ratio. Blocks and points were down although minutes were at an all time high, which leads us fans to believe that Ibrahima became a better team player and facilitator.

Another thing that stuck out to me about Ibrahima was that he led the Big East in Fouls. I don't mind an aggressive player who hustles, but sometimes it's better to hold off because once you acquire a high amount of fouls you become a target for players and possibly even refs.

Adv. Offensive Stats

Ibrahima came in at #495 in college basketball in Offensive Rating, surprisingly ahead of other UC starters, including Yancy Gates and Cashmere Wright. He was also 2nd on the team in effective FG%. He took the smallest percentage of shots of any player used in more than 17% of the teams possesions, which I guess can be expected.

Adv. Defensive Stats

One thing that's impressive about defensive metrics is that they help back directly what you can see on the court. This is true for Ibrahima. He was an absolute force on the O boards and well represented on the Defensive boards, these, especially OR% are effort metrics and it really shows in Ibrahima. Another observation that is backed by the metrics was his FC/40 (fouls called per 40 mins), Ibrahima, while showing effort on the court, sometimes couldn't control himself and would get pegged with the foul.

Final Thoughts

Ibrahima had a solid but not spectacular couple of seasons for the University of Cincinnati Men's Basketball team and I wish him all the luck in his future endeavors. 

What's your take on Ibrahima's Senior year? Leave your grade in the poll and any comments in the section below.