{{short description|Congolese basketball player}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Flo Thamba | image = | caption = | number = 13 | position = Power forward / center | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 10 | weight_lbs = 245 | league = Polish Basketball League | team = Tauron GTK Gliwice | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1999|2|25|df=y}} | birth_place = DR Congo | high_school = Mountain Mission School<br>(Grundy, Virginia) | college = Baylor (2018–2023) | draft_year = 2023 | career_start = 2023 | years1 = 2023–2024 | team1 = Jämtland Basket | years2 = 2024–2025 | team2 = ADA Blois | years3 = 2025–present | team3 = GTK Gliwice | highlights = * NCAA champion (2021) }} '''Florent Thamba''' (born 25 February 1999) is a Congolese professional basketball player for GTK Gliwice of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). He played college basketball for the Baylor Bears of the Big 12 Conference.
==Early life== Thamba was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and lived in England and France during his childhood before settling in South Africa.<ref name=hawkins>{{cite web |last1=Hawkins |first1=Stephen |title=Baylor bigs: Flo, 'Everyday Jon' help make Bear guards great |url=https://collegebasketball.ap.org/article/baylor-bigs-flo-everyday-jon-help-make-bear-guards-great |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=31 March 2021}}</ref> At age 16, he moved to the United States to attend Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Virginia, where he played basketball for three seasons.<ref name="hayes">{{cite web |last1=Hayes |first1=Tim |title=NCAA Final Four: Baylor's Thamba honed his skills at Grundy's Mountain Mission |url=https://heraldcourier.com/sports/ncaa-final-four-baylors-thamba-honed-his-skills-at-grundys-mountain-mission/article_05649ba6-9405-11eb-a817-a360b0d59dc2.html |website=Bristol Herald Courier |access-date=6 April 2021 |date=2 April 2021}}</ref> He committed to playing college basketball for Baylor over offers from Illinois, Virginia Tech and Nebraska.<ref name=goodman>{{cite web |last1=Goodman |first1=Jeff |title=Flo Thamba's Path to Waco / How Baylor Was Built |url=https://watchstadium.com/flo-thambas-path-to-waco/ |website=Stadium |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=23 February 2021}}</ref>
==College career== Thamba came off the bench during his first two years at Baylor. As a freshman, he averaged 1.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He averaged 2.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore.<ref name=goodman/> In his junior season, Thamba became a starter for one of the top teams in the nation. He averaged 3.6 points and four rebounds per game, helping Baylor win its first NCAA tournament title.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hayes |first1=Tim |title=Men's College Basketball: Baylor's Flo Thamba takes to the big stage |url=https://heraldcourier.com/sports/mens-college-basketball-baylors-flo-thamba-takes-to-the-big-stage/article_44e9aaa4-9596-11eb-9c4e-b73c4fd503a2.html |website=Bristol Herald Courier |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=4 April 2021}}</ref> On 26 February 2022, Thamba scored a career-high 18 points in an 80–70 victory against Kansas.<ref>{{cite news |title=No. 10 Baylor rallies to beat No. 5 Kansas 80-70 in Big 12 |url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=401368427 |access-date=27 February 2022 |work=ESPN |agency=Associated Press |date=26 February 2022}}</ref>
==Professional career== On 7 July 2025 Thamba signed with GTK Gliwice of the Polish Basketball League.<ref>{{cite web |title=Florent Thamba joins GTK Gliwice |url=https://sportando.basketball/en/florent-thamba-joins-gtk-gliwice/ |website=Sportando |access-date=8 July 2025 |date=7 July 2025}}</ref>
==Career statistics== {{NBA player statistics legend}}
===College=== {{NBA player statistics start}} |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19 | style="text-align:left;"| Baylor | '''33''' || 0 || 10.0 || .538 || – || .533 || 2.2 || '''.3''' || '''.2''' || .6 || 1.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20 | style="text-align:left;"| Baylor | 19 || 0 || 9.1 || .481 || – || .567 || 2.2 || .1 || .1 || '''.7''' || 2.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21 | style="text-align:left;"| Baylor | 30 || '''30''' || '''15.0''' || '''.563''' || – || '''.617''' || '''4.0''' || .2 || '''.2''' || '''.7''' || '''3.6''' |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 82 || 30 || 11.6 || .540 || – || .579 || 2.8 || .2 || .2 || .7 || 2.6 {{S-end}}
==Personal life== Thamba's father, Emmanual, works in customs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<ref name=hawkins/> His older brother, Levy, fatally fell from a hotel balcony in 2014 after consuming a marijuana edible.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moore |first1=CJ |title=The tragedy that inspires Baylor center Flo Thamba |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2271453/2020/12/21/baylor-bears-flo-thamba-brother-death-college-basketball/ |website=The Athletic |access-date=7 April 2021 |date=21 December 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/178631/flo-thamba Proballers profile] *[https://baylorbears.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/flo-thamba/10368 Baylor Bears bio]
{{GTK Gliwice current roster}} {{2021 Baylor Bears basketball navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thamba, Flo}} Category:1999 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen Category:ADA Blois Basket 41 players Category:Basketball players from Kinshasa Category:Baylor Bears men's basketball players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate basketball people in France Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate basketball people in the United States Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo men's basketball players Category:GTK Gliwice players Category:Jämtland Basket players Category:Power forwards