After spending the last three seasons with the Three Rivers women’s basketball team, Jamiyah Thomas has signed with California University of Pennsylvania. “I reached out to them and built a relationship with the head coach there,” Thomas said. “I sent them my film and they liked what they saw.” With Thomas granted an extra year at the junior college level due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she had a career averages of 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. After coming off the bench in 31 games as a freshman, she broke out in 2020-21 starting in 18 out of 22 games while averaging 8.0 points that season as the Raiders made it to the final four of the NJCAA National Tournament.

Thomas was back on the bench this past season, with the exception of two starts, and averaged 3.2 points per contest as the Raiders made a return trip to the national tournament. The 6-foot-2 guard from Chicago will be joining a Vulcan squad that went 25-6 last season that ended in the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. “I got to talk to some of the girls there and they really like the program that they have,” Thomas said.

The Vulcans are coached by former Penn State product Jess Strom, who has been at the helm for 11 seasons and has compiled a record of 212-61 along with a national championship in 2015. In the classroom, Thomas will be continuing her major in Health Science. “They have a really good academic program there and it was just what I was looking for,” she said. California University of Pennsylvania plays in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and the campus is located just south of Pittsburgh.

Robert Augsdorfer - Daily American Republic