ESPN.com · Jun 7, 2017
Is the future of one-and-done in jeopardy?
Just before former LSU star Tyrus Thomas declared for the NBA draft in 2006, the local utility company cut the lights off at the home of the grandmother who raised him.
He'd entered his first official year of college basketball as just another redshirt hoping to make an impact. And then, he averaged 12.3 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.1 BPG and 1.0 SPG in the 2005-06 season for LSU, a stat line that changed his life.
The Portland Trailblazers selected Thomas, the star of that year's NCAA tournament, with the fourth pick in the 2006 NBA draft before trading him to the Chicago Bulls, who signed him to a four-year, $15 million contract that changed the financial fortunes of his family.
