Livingstone College has announced that it has signed Imani Thomas, the daughter of former NBA player Etan Thomas, to play for the school’s volleyball team.
According to HBCU Gameday, the Bowie, Maryland, native, who attended Bishop McNamara High School, was introduced via the school’s social media account.
“Signed ✍️
Welcome to Blue Bear Nation, Imani! 🩵
We are excited to welcome her from Bowie, Maryland. Imani finished her high school career at Bishop McNamara High School, where she was a varsity standout. We are adding a dynamic incoming freshman to our roster!”
She is reportedly heading to the HBCU after battling an injury (shin splits) during the 2025 travel season, according to her father. It was discovered that the injury had developed into a stress fracture. But the family decided that healing the shin was the priority for long-term success, leading to the Livingstone signing. Etan said his daughter was devastated that she missed key events, including college camps, but was rehabbing the injury so she could return to the sport.
Imani’s father, who was born in Harlem, played in the NBA after being drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2000 NBA Draft as the 12th overall pick (although he never played with the team before being traded). He played his collegiate career at Syracuse University (1996-2000) after playing at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He also played for the Washington Wizards (2001-2009), the Oklahoma Thunder (2009-2010), and the Atlanta Hawks (2010-2011). He had stats averaging 5.7 points on 51.3% field goal percentage, grabbing 4.7 rebounds, while dishing out .4 assists over the course of his NBA career. He played the center position. He is currently a podcaster, where he can be heard discussing basketball (The Rematch), and writes
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