Billy Thomas of the Greenville Groove has been selected by the eight coaches in the National Basketball Development League as the recipient of the league sportsmanship award.

“Billy Thomas is truly one of the greatest sportsmen I have ever been around,” Greenville head coach Tree Rollins said. “He has sacrificed his ego and statistics this year in order to allow his teammates to shine.”

Thomas, a Kansas University product, is captain of the Greenville team. He leads the Groove and is ninth in the NBDL in scoring with 15.4 points per game. Thomas is also among the league leaders in steals (1.4 pg) and minutes played (31.6 pg).

“Billy Thomas is a true professional in every sense of the word. Our coaches couldn’t have made a better choice,” NBDL executive director Karl Hicks said.

Thomas has been active in the Greenville community, never turning down an offer to participate in the league’s primary community initiative, Read to Achieve. He has also been active in various local charity fund-raising efforts this season.