Las Vegas (May 11, 2021)—The Las Vegas Aces announced today that they waived Lauren Manis (6-4, F, Holy Cross) and Shakayla Thomas (5-11, F, Florida State). The team travels to Seattle this weekend to tip off the regular season with a pair of games against the 2020 WNBA Champion Storm. Tip on Saturday, May 15 on ABC is at 12 pm PT.
Lauren Manis
The Aces selected Manis with their lone pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, but due to COVID-19 and the league’s shortened training camp in Bradenton, Florida last summer, she was unable to join the team.
In September of last year, the Franklin, Massachusetts native signed with Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen in Belgium, where she averaged 13.2 points and 9.1 rebounds.
Manis averaged 18.6 points and 11.5 rebounds as a senior, while connecting on 46.3 percent of her shots from three-point range. She also became the first men’s or women’s basketball player in school history to surpass the 2,000 career point and 1,000 career rebound plateaus.
She was named to the First-Team All-Patriot League in each of her last three seasons, and made the Patriot League All-Defensive Team as a senior.
Shakayla Thomas
Thomas is a three-time All-American forward, who finished her Florida State career in 2018 with the second most points and seventh most rebounds in program history.
The Los Angeles Sparks selected her in the second round (No. 23 overall) of the 2018 WNBA Draft, waiving her just prior to the start of the regular season.
She played a portion of the 2018-19 winter season overseas with Maccabi Raanana averaging 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds. This past season, she played for Toulouse in France.
The Sylacauga, Alabama native led the Seminoles in scoring in each of her last three years with the program, and was named the ACC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches as a junior.