Former Kent State University basketball player Eric Thomas was sentenced to eight years in prison Monday after pleading guilty on Oct. 1 to aggravated burglary and two counts of felonious assault.

Thomas, 29, was a starter on the 2002 team that reached the Elite 8 of the NCAA basketball tournament. Thomas, along with the three other seniors on that team, had their numbers retired following that season. His banner was taken down after the incident but his number will still be retired according to Kent State director of athletics Laing Kennedy.

“We honor what he did as a student-athlete, and we will continue to honor that,” Kennedy said. “He was part of a very excellent program, we went to the Elite 8, and he was an integral part of that. As a student-athlete here, (Thomas) was an excellent citizen.”

&mdash Jeff Russ