Today@Sam Article

Bearkat Legends: Sequeena Thomas

Jan. 9, 2025
SHSU Media Contact: Campbell Atkins

The following story is part of a series featuring the Bearkats inducted into Sam Houston State University’s Hall of Honor this fall. All inductees will be featured in Today@Sam articles throughout the academic year outlining their lives and athletic journeys.

Sequeena Thomas and her program-leading 1,168 career rebounds helped set the tone for a winning tenacity that defined a new era of women’s basketball at Sam Houston State University. While speaking on her accomplishments at November 2024’s Hall-of-Honor induction ceremony, she could not help but reflect on the teammates and coaches that set her up for success.

“I really wish we were all inducted as a team, because we did so much together,” Thomas said. “We raised a banner in our gym, and we are the ones who set the standard.”

Thomas began to set herself apart from others on the basketball court from an early age, but admitted her passion for the game developed over time. She first learned the ins and outs of the game after her family moved to Texas from Georgia.  

“I didn’t love basketball at first, I was such a girly-girl,” she said. “But my friends at the local Richardson Boys & Girls Club began signing up, so I got in line. I just wanted to hang out with my friends, but I ended up being pretty good at it. From there, I gravitated toward basketball, and it became a part of me.”

She was also encouraged by role models like her mother, who played recreationally in local church leagues before the family moved to Texas. At Rockwall-Heath High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Thomas took her game to another level and began drawing the attention of collegiate scouts. Before her senior year, however, the family relocated again, this time to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“A lot of the programs that were recruiting me at Rockwall-Heath lost track of me after that,” she said.

While she missed her friends in Texas and despised the cold weather, Thomas made the best of the situation and quickly found herself back on the court. She earned Third Team All-State honors and a First Team All-Area selection in her single season at Parkland High School, where she continued to excel in the classroom and began to develop another love.

“I have always loved to write and talk. I ended up taking a journalism course and learned so much,” said Thomas, who reported on sports for the high school newspaper, including some games she competed in herself. “I decided to go into broadcast-journalism.”

Thomas knew she wanted to escape the frigid northeast winters and return to Texas. When recruited by SHSU, she found an opportunity to come home and enter a prestigious communications program in Huntsville.

“I visited the Dan Rather Communications Building and realized this is where I needed to be,” Thomas said. “Sam Houston was the only school I visited that had such top-notch facilities.”

When Thomas stepped foot on campus for the first time as a Bearkat in 2009, however, the women’s basketball team had not posted a winning record in over a decade. Head coach Brenda Nichols and her staff began assembling a group of players that would work to change this narrative and bring notoriety to the program.

“Sequeena knows how to score inside and she is strong on the boards, which are two areas of need for us,” Nichols said to GoBearkats.com in April of 2009. “She is very strong, very athletic and can run well.”

Thomas started just one game during her freshman season, in which the Bearkats went 11-18. Prior to the ensuing 2010 campaign, assistant coach Jamene Caldwell knew that Thomas and the Bearkats were on the precipice of breaking through.

“She pulled me aside before my sophomore year even started and asked if I understood my spot on this team,” Thomas said. “She told me I was going to play a significant role and have an opportunity for a double-double every single night. She was always challenging me to do things. For the most part, I tried to conquer those challenges.”

Thomas did just that. The sophomore established herself as a force inside the paint and helped lead the Bearkats to their first winning season since 1995. On top of a second team All-Southland Conference selection, she was named her team’s Co-Most Valuable Player along with her roommate and 2023 Hall-of-Honor inductee Britni (Martin) Coselli.

“I tried to do anything that could make me an asset to my team,” Thomas said. “If that meant having to box out to get a rebound, that’s what I was going to do. If that meant having to block a shot or steal the ball, I didn’t shy away from it.”

This attitude became a newfound culture among the young and hungry Bearkats, who began to establish themselves as a serious threat. The team tallied back-to-back seasons with double digit Southland wins and qualified for the conference tournament both times.

“We didn’t know how good we were, and we didn’t care,” Thomas said. “We just wanted to get better and win.”

All roads led to a historic senior season for Thomas and the Bearkats in 2012-13. She personally set the program’s all-time rebounding record, averaging over 12 per game for the second straight year, and was selected to the Southland Conference’s first team. The season remains one of the most memorable in program history, resulting in a 13-5 record in Southland play and their first ever regular season conference championship.

“Everyone on the team was locked in all year and we really wanted to win a championship,” said Thomas on the first-place finish. “This was our last run.”

The Bearkats secured their portion of the regular season crown with a 76-68 road victory over heated rival Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches on March 7, 2013. Thomas posted 18 points and secured nine rebounds in the historic win.

“I still have that video of when we finally did it,” she said. “It was a surreal moment.”

While the Bearkats ultimately fell to Oral Roberts University in the Southland Conference Tournament final, they stand as the only team in program history to qualify for the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (NIT).

“I hope people look at our banner and see that we helped turned the program around,” Thomas said. “We made it easier for good players to want to come here and contribute to a winning program. We knew that there were some teams who were better than us on paper, but so what? Throw that paper away and make yourself better.”

Throughout her legendary career, Thomas scored in double figures in 47 games and recorded 37 double-digit rebound performances. Her 1,168 career rebounds place her fourth in Southland Conference history.

After earning her bachelor’s in communication studies from SHSU, Thomas continued her basketball career overseas for one season in Bulgaria for the WBC Neftokhimik Burgas. While she averaged nearly 10 points and seven rebounds in 25 games, she quickly felt the call to return to Texas once again.

“Bulgaria was definitely an experience, but I really missed America and my home,” she said.

She remains in the Dallas-Fort Worth area today with her three children, Samiyah, age eight, Serena, age five and Da’Mar, age three. She recently celebrated her 10-year work anniversary for Oncor Electric Delivery, where she utilizes her communication skills as a Senior Distribution Services Advisor.

“It was surreal to come back to campus for the induction ceremony and drive through campus with my kids,” she said. “Everything is different; there is so much more stuff here now.”

Thomas was honored along with her seven fellow inductees with a banquet as well as a halftime ceremony during the Sept. 21, 2024, Homecoming football game at Bowers Stadium. The highlight of the special weekend was having the majority of her teammates in attendance to share in the honor.

“Basketball is a team sport, and I am not one for individual accolades,” Thomas said. “If I could have had them all up there on the stage with me, I would have.”

- END -

This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office:

Director of Content Communications: Emily Binetti

Asst. Director Content & Social Media: Emilee White

Communications Manager: Mikah Boyd
Telephone: 936.294.1837

Communications Specialist: Campbell Atkins
Telephone: 936.294.2638

Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu