Hasheem Thabeet to be inducted into UConn’s Huskies of Honor

Former UConn men’s basketball star Hasheem Thabeet will be the next to join the Huskies of Honor, the program announced Thursday.

Thabeet, who starred as a shot-blocker and post scorer for the Huskies from 2006-09 before he went on to be selected No. 2 overall in the NBA Draft, will be the 24th player in the Huskies of Honor, which also includes three coaches, an administrator and two full teams.

The ceremony will take place at halftime of UConn’s game against Georgetown at Gampel Pavilion on Feb. 14.

Thabeet was a two-time National Defensive Player of the Year, a Second Team All-American and the 2009 Big East Player of the Year, helping the Huskies to their third Final Four appearance that year. He holds the program record for most blocks in a single game with 10, a mark he reached on three separate occasions. The 7-foot-3 native of Tanzania went on to be drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies and played for the Rockets, Trail Blazers and Thunder during his five years in the NBA before a lengthy overseas career in Asia and Africa.

One of the most imposing big men the program has ever had, Thabeet left Storrs with the program’s all-time record for highest field goal percentage at 61.1% (359-588) in 100 games played, which currently stands as fifth-best all-time. He is second in program history behind Emeka Okafor in blocked shots per game over his career (4.2) and total blocks (417). Okafor and Thabeet are the only players in UConn history with over 400 blocked shots and four or more blocks per game.

Thabeet started all 31 games as a freshman and averaged 6.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game, landing himself a spot on the Big East All-Freshman team. He earned his first Big East and NABC National Defensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore after averaging 10.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game, which still stands as the second-highest in a season in program history. He was named Second Team All-Big East.

In his junior season, his last in Storrs, Thabeet was a Second Team AP All-American and repeated as both Big East and NABC Defensive Player of the Year – another feat only accomplished at UConn by Okafor. He averaged 13.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, shooting 64.0 percent from the field in 36 contests, while blocking 4.2 shots per game on his way to a First Team All-Conference pick and the 2009 Big East Player of the Year award, which no Husky has claimed since.