KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Towson University senior Alex Thomas was among the final 63 nominees for selection to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) 2019 NABC Give Back Team.
 
The selfless Thomas helped to impact the lives of others and make a difference in the community by participating in several outreach projects. Among them were hosting an autism clinic featuring several individuals from the Hussman Center for Adults on the campus of Towson University and interacting with students from Towson West Elementary School. When the Tigers played in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2017, Thomas helped lead a basketball clinic for youth's at Ashfield Boys School.
 
On the court, Thomas concluded his career by playing in 120 career games and making 69 starts. He finished his career with 381 rebounds, 338 points and 84 blocked shots. He was sixth in the CAA in blocked shots following his senior season and ninth following his junior year.
 
Thomas made his only career 3-pointers during a win over Elon this season to open the CAA season. He made the game-winning shot to help the Tigers beat Delaware. Thomas helped Towson win 20 games in back to back seasons for the first time in program history (2015-16 and 2016-17). Thomas helped the Tigers make a postseason appearance in the Vegas 16 following the 2015-16 season.
 
In addition, Thomas served Towson as a presidential ambassador. He was a L.e.A.D. Tiger and a member of Towson's SAAC.
 
"It's nice to have the platform of playing basketball to help others and make an impact," Thomas said. "It's really special to me to be among these other student-athletes. To be selected for (a Presidential Ambassador) was amazing. Having the opportunity to interact and pick the brains of established, important people both on and off campus was special to me."
 
The 2019 NABC Give Back Team includes five student-athletes from NCAA Division I and five from NCAA Division II and III and the NAIA. 

Representing NCAA Division I are Sam Dowd of Idaho State University, JT Escobar of the University of North Florida, Aaron Jordan of the University of Illinois, Trey Phills of Yale University and Horace Spencer of Auburn University.

Representing NCAA Division II-III and the NAIA are Jordan Bonner of Wesleyan University, Daniel Burchette of North Greenville University, Savonte Chappell of Christopher Newport University, Brian Pearson of the University of Alaska-Anchorage and Kai Skinner of Westminster (PA) College.
 
"The NABC is proud to celebrate the 10 young men selected for this year's NABC Give Back Team in recognition of their exceptional selfless humanitarian acts," said NABC Executive Director Jim Haney. "These men's college basketball student-athletes have made significant contributions to assist those in need while helping lift the human spirit."
 
Listed below are all of the nominees for the 2019 NABC Give Back Team:

First Name	Last Name	Class	Position	College/University	Hometown
Thomas	Allen	So.	Guard	University of Nebraska	Raleigh	NC
Malek	Barber	Sr.	Forward	Palm Beach Atlantic University	North Port	FL
Bray	Barnes	Sr.	Guard	CSU Bakersfield	Bakersfield	CA
Marcus	Bartley	Gr.	Guard	Southern Illinois	Decatur	IL
Myo	Baxter-Bell	Jr.	Forward	Liberty University	Cincinnati	OH
Connor	Bennett	Jr.	Forward	UMass Lowell	Wilmington	MA
Brennan	Besser	Sr.	Guard	Duke University	Chicago	IL
James	Bolden	Jr.	Guard	West Virginia University	Covington	KY
Jordan	Bonner	Sr.	Guard	Wesleyan University	Houston	TX
Josh	Bowling	Sr.	Forward	John Brown University	Detroit	MI
Daniel	Burchette	Sr.	Guard	North Greenville University	Weaverville	NC
Elijah	Burns	Sr.	Forward	University of Notre Dame	Troy	NY
Devontae	Cacok	Sr.	Forward	UNC Wilmington	Riverdale	GA
Savonte	Chappell	Jr.	Forward	Christopher Newport University	Prince George	VA
Booker	Coplin	Jr.	Guard	Augsburg University	Shakopee	MN
Jeremiah	Culver	Jr.	Guard	Wayland Baptist University	Lubbock	TX
Terence	Davis	Sr.	Guard	Ole Miss	Southaven	MS
Joshua	Delaney	Sr.	Guard	Sam Houston State University	Harker Heights	TX
Moustapha	Diagne	Jr.	Forward	Western Kentucky University	Rufisque	Senegal
Sam	Dowd	Sr.	Guard	Idaho State	Seattle	WA
Nathan	Ekwu	Sr.	Forward	Davidson College	Enugu	Nigeria
JT	Escobar	Jr.	Guard	University of North Florida	Tallahassee	FL
Tacko	Fall	Sr.	Center	University of Central Florida	Dakar	Senegal
Mike	Fischer	Sr.	Guard	Penn State Behrend	Wexford	PA
Trent	Forrest	Jr.	Guard	Florida State University	Chipley	FL
Jarrey	Foster	Sr.	Guard	SMU	Houston	TX
Donovan	Gilmore	Sr.	Forward	UNC Asheville	Greensboro	NC
Zach	Glotta	Sr.	Guard	Austin Peay State University	O'Fallon	MO
Chris	Hildenbrand	Jr.	Guard	Colorado Christian University	Colorado Springs	CO
Willie	Jackson	Jr.	Forward	University of Toledo	Cleveland	OH
Malik	Jacobs	Sr.	Guard	Urbana University	Fairborn	OH
Michael	Jacobson	Jr.	Forward	Iowa State University	Waukee	IA
Jordan	Jenkins	Gr.	Forward	Willamette University	Placentia	CA
AJ	John	Sr.	Forward	UC Davis	Santa Rosa	CA
Aaron	Jordan	Sr.	Guard	University of Illinois	Plainfield	IL
Dedric	Lawson	Jr.	Forward	University of Kansas	Memphis	TN
Keldrick	Lesure	Jr.	Guard	University of Arkansas Monticello	Indianapolis	IN
Divonte	Lumpkin	Sr.	Guard	Texas Southern University	Chicago	IL
Dre	Marin	So.	Guard	Southern Utah University	Phoenix	AZ
Seth	Mattson	Sr.	Guard	LeTourneau University	Kingwood	TX
D.J.	McCall	Sr.	Guard	IUPUI	Fort Wayne	IN
Johnny	McCants	So.	Forward	New Mexico State University	Las Cruces	NM
Jaylen	McCoy	Sr.	Guard	SIU - Edwardsville	Montgomery	AL
Brandon	McKissic	So.	Guard	UMKC	Ferguson	MO
Nick	Mora	Jr.	Guard	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	Weslaco	TX
Trey	Moses	Sr.	Center	Ball State University	Louisville	KY
Erich	Naumann	So.	Forward	College of Mount Saint Vincent	Queens	NY
Brian	Pearson	Sr.	Forward	University of Alaska Anchorage	Elko	NV
Trey	Phills	Sr,	Guard	Yale University	Charlotte	NC
Nate	Renfro	Sr.	Forward	University of San Francisco	Tucson	AZ
Emondre	Rickman	Sr.	Center	Indiana State	Collinsville	IL
Matt	Rose	Sr.	Forward	Lipscomb University	Lexington	KY
Tyler	Seibring	Sr.	Forward	Elon University	Normal	IL
Chris	Silva	Sr.	Forward	University of South Carolina	Libreville	Gabon
Kai	Skinner	So.	Guard	Westminster College (PA)	Titusville	PA
Horace	Spencer	Sr.	Forward	Auburn University	Philadelphia	PA
Ilija	Stojiljkovic	Sr.	Forward	University of Maine	Nis	Serbia
Jaylen	Stowe	Sr.	Guard	Mercer University	Harrisburg	NC
Alex	Thomas	Sr.	Forward	Towson University	Hawthorne	NJ
Toby	Van Ry	Gr.	Center	University of Texas at San Antonio	Fort Collins	CO
Grant	Williams	Jr.	Forward	University of Tennessee	Charlotte	NC
Dylan	Windler	Sr.	Guard	Belmont University	Indianapolis	IN
Justin	Wright-Foreman	Sr.	Guard	Hofstra University	Queens	NY

 
 







































































About the National Association of Basketball Coaches
Located in Kansas City, MO, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Forrest "Phog" Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas.  Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game.  The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches.  All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today's student-athletes.  The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.  Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.org.