{{Short description|American basketball player (born 1968)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Tharon Mayes | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 3 | weight_lbs = 175 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1968|9|9}} | birth_place = New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. | high_school = Hillhouse (New Haven, Connecticut) | college = Florida State (1987–1990) | draft_year = 1990 | career_start = 1990 | career_end = 2000 | career_number = 25, 8 | career_position = Shooting guard | years1 = 1990–1991 | team1 = Sioux Falls Skyforce | years2 = 1991 | team2 = New Haven Skyhawks | years3 = {{nbay|1991|start}} | team3 = Philadelphia 76ers | years4 = 1991 | team4 = Sioux Falls Skyforce | years5 = {{nbay|1991|end}} | team5 = Los Angeles Clippers | years6 = 1992 | team6 = Sioux Falls Skyforce | years7 = 1992–1993 | team7 = Castors Braine | years8 = 1993 | team8 = Purefoods TJ Hotdogs | years9 = 1993 | team9 = Grand Rapids Hoops | years10 = 1994 | team10 = Fargo-Moorhead Fever | years11 = 1994–1995 | team11 = Breogán Lugo | years12 = 1995–1996 | team12 = Rhöndorfer TV | years13 = 1996 | team13 = Florida Sharks | years14 = 1996 | team14 = Formula Shell Zoom Masters | years15 = 1996 | team15 = Hapoel Tsfat | years16 = 1997 | team16 = Yakima Sun Kings | years17 = 1997–1998 | team17 = Covirán Sierra Nevada | years18 = 1998–1999 | team18 = Recreativos Orenes Murcia | years19 = 1999–2000 | team19 = Hapoel Holon |years20 = 2000 |team20 = San Diego Stingrays | stats_league = NBA | stat1label = Points | stat1value = 99 (4.1 ppg) | stat2label = Rebounds | stat2value = 16 (0.7 rpg) | stat3label = Assists | stat3value = 35 (1.5 apg) | highlights = * CBA All-Rookie Team (1991) }} '''Tharon Rex Mayes''' (born September 9, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, he was listed at 6'3" tall and weighed 175 lbs.
== Career == Mayes played collegiate ball with the Florida State University Seminoles (1987–1990). He scored 1260 points (16.4 ppg) for Florida State and had a total of 132 steals. Scoring 23.3 points per game in the 1989-90 campaign, he put up the third-best season scoring average in FSU history. In the team's media guide, Mayes was described as "a defensive terror because of his lightning-quick hand".<ref>{{Cite web|title=1,000 POINT SCORERS|url=https://seminoles.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/FSU.1902-MBB-MG-Records-p71-160.pdf|access-date=2021-04-17|website=Florida State Men's Basketball Media Guide 2019-20|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418234155/https://seminoles.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/FSU.1902-MBB-MG-Records-p71-160.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In January 1990, he was suspended indefinitely after an altercation with a parking meter patrolman.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Florida State Guard Suspended Through February|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/02/07/Florida-State-Guard-Suspended-Through-February/1846634366800/|access-date=2021-04-17|website=UPI|language=en}}</ref>
He played the majority of his professional basketball career in the CBA for the Sioux Falls Skyforce (1990–1992), Grand Rapids Hoops (1993), Fargo-Moorhead Fever (1993–1994) and Yakima Sun Kings (1997). In 1990–91, Mayes scored 25.1 points per contest for the Skyforce,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tharon Mayes minor league basketball Statistics on StatsCrew.com|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/p-mayestha001|access-date=2021-04-17|website=www.statscrew.com|language=en}}</ref> making him the third leading scorer of the CBA season.<ref>{{Cite web|title=1990 Continental Basketball Association (CBA) sports Leaders on StatsCrew.com|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/leaders/l-CBA/y-1990|access-date=2021-04-17|website=www.statscrew.com|language=en}}</ref> His 1354 points this season were the most in a single season in franchise history.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=30 To 30|url=https://siouxfalls.gleague.nba.com/news/30-to-30/|access-date=2021-04-17|website=Sioux Falls Skyforce|language=en-US}}</ref> Mayes was selected to the CBA All-Rookie Team in 1991.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tharon Mayes minor league basketball statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/p-mayestha001 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref> He participated in the NBA with brief stints with the Philadelphia 76ers (1991) and Los Angeles Clippers (1992). In the NBA, Mayes saw action in a total of 24 games, averaging 4.1 points a game.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tharon Mayes|url=http://www.nba.com/stats/player/77493/career/|access-date=2021-04-17|website=NBA Stats|language=en}}</ref>
He also played overseas in Belgium for Castors Braine (1992–1993), in the Philippines for Purefoods TJ Hotdogs (1993) and Formula Shell Zoom Masters (1996), in Germany for Rhöndorfer TV (1995–1996; with 17.7 ppg in 23 appearances, he was the team's leading scorer),<ref>{{Cite web|date=1996|title=Top-Scorer Basketball-Saison 95/96|url=http://www.uni-giessen.de/~gl23/club/buli9596/tops9596.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-17|website=Basketball in Deutschland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040531011742/http://www.uni-giessen.de/~gl23/club/buli9596/tops9596.html|archive-date=2004-05-31}}</ref> in Spain for Breogán Lugo (1994–1995; 38 games: 22.6 ppg), Covirán Sierra Nevada (1997–1998; 28 games: 15.9 ppg) and Recreativos Orenes Murcia (1998–1999; 12 games: 14.2 ppg),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tharon Rex Mayes: TEMPORADA A TEMPORADA|url=http://www.acb.com/jugador/temporada-a-temporada/id/20201353|access-date=2021-04-17|website=acb.com}}</ref> and in Israel for Hapoel Tsfat (1996–1997) and Hapoel Holon (1999–2000; 9 games: 12.2 ppg).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hapoel Holon 1999-2000|url=https://basket.co.il/player.asp?PlayerId=8289&lang=en|access-date=2021-04-17|website=basket.co.il}}</ref>
After retiring, Mayes settled in Toronto and started a basketball camp. In 2003, he decided to come back to Florida State University with the goal to finish his degree in criminology.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2003-08-01|title=Catching Up With Former Seminole Men's Basketball Star Tharon Mayes|url=https://seminoles.com/catching-up-with-former-seminole-mens-basketball-star-tharon-mayes/|access-date=2021-04-17|website=Florida State Seminoles|language=en-US}}</ref> Mayes worked in youth programs in Toronto, Florida, Boston and in his hometown, where he became the sports director of the Boys & Girls Club of New Haven in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=David Borges, Register|date=2012-08-15|title=BASKETBALL: Former NBA player Tharon Mayes serves as a role model (video/photos)|url=https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/BASKETBALL-Former-NBA-player-Tharon-Mayes-serves-11521097.php|access-date=2021-04-17|website=New Haven Register|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Notable awards == * CBA All-Rookie (1991) * CBA All-Star (1991) * Named one of the 20 Greatest Players in the history of the Sioux Fall Skyforce<ref name=":0" />
==Personal life== Mayes is the stepfather of the former Florida State player Xavier Rathan-Mayes.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2016-10-21|title=Men's college basketball: David Borges preseason AP Top 25 ballot|url=https://www.middletownpress.com/sports/article/Men-s-college-basketball-David-Borges-11773544.php|access-date=2021-04-17|website=The Middletown Press|language=en-US}}</ref>
==External links== * [https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mayesth01.html NBA career statistics]
== References == <references />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayes, Theron}} Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:American expatriate basketball people in Belgium Category:American expatriate basketball people in Germany Category:American expatriate basketball people in Israel Category:American expatriate basketball people in Spain Category:American men's basketball players Category:Basketball players from Connecticut Category:CB Breogán players Category:CB Granada players Category:CB Murcia players Category:Fargo-Moorhead Fever players Category:Florida State Seminoles men's basketball players Category:Grand Rapids Hoops players Category:Liga ACB players Category:Los Angeles Clippers players Category:Philadelphia 76ers players Category:San Diego Stingrays players Category:Shooting guards Category:Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players Category:Undrafted NBA players Category:Yakima Sun Kings players Category:American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines Category:Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots players Category:Philippine Basketball Association imports Category:Shell Turbo Chargers players Category:Hillhouse High School alumni Category:20th-century American sportsmen