Former Wildcat Sam Thomas signs Camp Contract with Phoenix Mercury

Following a stellar collegiate career, former Wildcat Sam Thomas will get her shot at the NBA, signing a Camp Contract with the Phoenix Mercury.

The dream of playing basketball professionally lives on for Sam Thomas as our former Wildcat has officially signed a camp contract with the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday afternoon.

Making news via social media, it was announced that Sam signed the training camp contract, this just one day after Sam was not selected in the 2022 WNBA Draft.

During her time at Arizona, Thomas made herself known as being an elite defender and even became one of head coach Adia Barnes’ staple players for the past few years.

She caps off a tremendous collegiate career at Arizona in which our beloved Wildcat appeared in 125 games (125 starts), averaging 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.6 rebounds per game. Sam also finished her career with 220 steals and 122 blocks.

However new challenges await Sam!

Even though Sam Thomas wasn’t selected in the WNBA Draft, the former Wildcat still has a great opportunity to showcase her skills with the Phoenix Mercury.

The 2022 WNBA season is just around the corner, and coming into training camp, Thomas will have her work cut out for her as there is no guarantee she will even make the final roster. Beyond that, the Mercury will have to whittle down its roster to just 13.

Phoenix will begin its training camp in the coming weeks, and the regular season is set to begin the first week in May, so things will ramp up quickly.

The hope is that Sam will do just enough to prove herself and earn that roster spot, and should things not work out, the opportunity for her is still there to possibly even play professionally overseas. Either way, we are just happy to see Sam get the opportunity! It is more than deserved!

Listen to Sam discuss her career while at Arizona!