Former San Jac baseball player inducted in Rice University Athletic Hall of Fame

PASADENA, Texas –Former San Jacinto College baseball player Damon Thames was recently inducted into the Rice University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Thames played at San Jac during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. The Humble, Texas, native ranks second on the San Jac single-season hits list with 102 and is tied for third in doubles with seven. He led San Jac to one of its 20 overall appearances at the JUCO World Series.

While at Rice, Thames made the most of his two seasons with the Owls. He became the second Owl to be named the national player of the year in as many years when he grabbed the accolades after his 1998 season in which he hit .424 with 26 home runs, while setting school records in hits (120) and doubles (36). As a senior shortstop at Rice in 1999, Thames earned All-America honors for a second-straight season and helped lead the Owls to the top spot in the national polls and the program’s first-ever win at the College World Series.

In his two years at Rice, the Owls posted a 105-32 (.766) record, and Thames finished as the school’s all-time leader in career batting average (.399) and he was second in career doubles (60). He drove in 187 runs in 137 games played, and his 37 career home runs, 13 triples and 60 doubles led to a .730 career slugging percentage.

Thames earned his bachelor’s degree from Rice in May 2000 with a triple major in economics, human and health sciences, and managerial studies. After Rice, he played three years in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, and is now an associate director for Studley, Inc., an office tenant brokerage company in Houston.

San Jacinto College serves more than 27,000 students in over 140 degrees and certificates in university transfer and technical programs. The College also serves the community through workforce training. Students come with various goals and aspirations and we are committed to their success. San Jacinto College. Your Goals. Your College

For more information about San Jacinto College athletics, visit www.sanjacsports.com.

For more information about San Jacinto College, please call 281-998-6150 or visit www.sanjac.edu.