Tyrus Thomas

As a 5\'10" freshman, Thomas tried out for his varsity basketball team but was cut. He only played organized basketball in his last two years at McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, but never really built up enough recruiting hype to be considered a top 100 prospect. As a junior, he was a mere 6\'6" and 190 lb, and when he officially committed to LSU, the school did not initially have a scholarship for him. One later opened up when a JUCO recruit was kicked off LSU\'s team and saw his scholarship offer rescinded. By senior year, Thomas had grown to 6\'7", 200 lb. As a senior, Tyrus averaged 16 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks per game, earning him all-second team honors in Louisiana.\n', '

As a redshirted freshman at LSU in 2005–06, Thomas was the team\'s starting power forward, and because of his leaping ability, he developed a reputation as an outstanding shot blocker, rebounder and…