Thomas Nelson

Position:
Center/Center Defender
Height:
6-3
Weight:
210
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Walnut Creek, Calif.
High School:
De La Salle

At Princeton:

2015: Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Honorable Mention All-American … CWPA Southern Division Player of the Year … All-CWPA Southern first team … Two-time CWPA Player of the Week … Played in every game and started in 26 contests … Led the team in goals (72), shots (148), tied for the team league in drawn ejections (36) … Scored in all but two games … Tied career high in goals (six) and set career best in assists (four) in season-opener vs. Cal Lutheran (Sept. 5) … Four straight multi-goal games including four vs. Harvard (Sept. 12) … Had three two-goal outings (Sept. 19-20) … Tied career high with six tallies vs. Johns Hopkins (Sept. 26) … Season-high 11 shots with four goals, two steals, two drawn ejections (Sept. 27) … Back-to-back four-goal games vs. Johns Hopkins (Oct. 23) and Gannon (Oct. 24) … Ended the season with multi-goal outings in 10 straight … Snagged three consecutive hat tricks (Oct. 25-31) which included five steals vs. George Washington (Oct. 25) … Another four-goal contest vs. Johns Hopkins (Nov. 8) … Scored four times in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship game vs. Johns Hopkins (Nov. 22) … Had two goals vs. UC-San Diego in the NCAA Tournament (Dec. 3).

2014: Honorable mention ACWPC All-America selection … CWPA Southern Division first-team honoree … two-time CWPA Southern Player of the Week … finished third on the team in goals (40) while also collecting 29 steals, 13 assists, 15 drawn ejections, and nine blocks … started 22 games … scored a goal in each of his first eight appearances … had 11 multi-goal games … turned in a hat-trick and added two steals against Iona (9/7) … had four goals and four steals vs. George Washington (9/28) … tallied four goals and an assist against Navy (10/5) … also scored four goals against Brown (10/19) and Johns Hopkins (11/21).

2013: ACWPC honorable mention All-America selection … CWPA All-Eastern Tournament first team … Southern Player of the Week (11/25) … ranked third on the team in goals … paced squad with 47 steals and 10 blocks … drew 15 ejections and dished out 19 assists … started 27 of 28 appearances … had 15 multi-goal games to his credit ... scored three or more goals on nine occasions … picked off a personal-best five steals in the season opener against Santa Clara (9/13) … handed out a career-high three assists against Bucknell (10/6) … scored a career-high six goals in the first round of the Eastern Championships against Iona (11/22) … racked up 15 goals, four assists and nine steals in four Eastern Championship contests.

2011: Played in 32 games … ACWPC honorable mention All-America pick ... finished with 34 goals, eight assists and a team-high 38 steals … scored in five of his first six games … had 11 multi-goal outings … netted two goals against Brown and Iona … accounted for three of Princeton's four goals in an NCAA semifinal loss to USC … posted three scores, including the deciding goal, in team’s win over UC-San Diego in the third-place match ... became the first player in program history to receive first-team all-tournament honors at NCAAs.

Before Princeton:

De La Salle: Served as a team captain at De La Salle during his senior season … amassed 106 goals, 97 steals, 31 blocks and 35 assists en route to Most Valuable Player honors in 2011 … two-time first-team All-East Bay Athletic League selection (2009, 2010) … second-team North Coast Section honoree in 2009 … first-team NCS and first-team All-East Bay in 2010 … helped lead squad to two NCS semifinal appearances and one championship match … All-America honoree in both water polo and swimming in 2010.

Club/National Team: Starter on the Lamorinda Water Polo Club that placed fourth at the U-16 (2008) and U-18 (2010) Junior Olympics.

Academic: Two-time USA Water Polo Outstanding Academic All-America selection (2009, 2010) … National Merit Scholar … NCS Scholar-Athlete.

Career Stats:

Season	GP	Goals	Shots	Assists	Steals	Sprints (W-L)	Ej. Drawn	Ejections	Blocks
2011	32	34	97	8	38	9-5	12	22	8
2013	28	53	126	19	47	1-1	15	21	10
2014	24	40	106	13	29	11-3	15	18	9
2015	27	72	148	19	39	0-0	36	10	11
Career	111	199	477	59	153	21-9	78	71	38

	Career Highs
Goals	6, 3 times, Most Recent vs. Johns Hopkins (9/26/15)
Assists	4, vs. Cal Lutheran (9/5/15)
Steals	5, 2 times, Most Recent vs. GW (10/25/15)
Ejections Drawn	4, 2 times, Most Recent vs. UCSD (9/20/15)
Blocks	3, vs. Southern California (9/28/13)