Isaiah Thomas Leaving Washington for NBA

by David Cassilo / @dcassilo

The list of early entrants in the NBA draft grew on Thursday with the announcement that Isaiah Thomas would be leaving Washington to pursue an NBA career. Thomas is coming off a junior season in which he led the Huskies in both scoring (16.8 ppg) and assists (6.1 apg).

Thomas’ greatest moment in a Washington uniform came in the Pac-10 final this past season when his jumper at the buzzer against Arizona gave the Huskies the conference championship. After defeating Georgia in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Washington lost to North Carolina 86-83.

The 5-9 point guard plans to hire an agent, meaning he will not be returning next season.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

“Isaiah Thomas has had an unbelievable impact on our program during his time with us,” Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar said in a statement. “We will definitely miss him, but we are behind him in his quest to fulfill a lifelong dream to play in the NBA.”

According DraftExpress, Thomas was projected as a second-round pick in the 2012 draft.