| Jason
Thomas emphatically announces his arrival with back-to-back double-doubles
Photo by Larry
French
Senior
Jason Thomas led the Eagles to a win over Vermont, picking
up Patriot League Player of the Week honors along the way.
|
BY
MIKE UNGER If
success were achieved easily, its value would be diminished. No
one knows this more than Jason Thomas, AU’s scrappy guard who
is putting together a senior season to remember. For
his Herculean 23-point, 11-rebound, five-assist, two-block, two-steal
effort Dec. 4 in AU’s stirring upset of Vermont, Thomas was
named the Patriot League’s Player of the Week. As an encore
four days later, Thomas scored a career-high 26 points and snatched
12 rebounds in the Eagles’ win over Towson. They were the first
two double-doubles of Thomas’s collegiate career. Quite
a week’s work for a player whose climb to the top hasn’t
always been smooth. “We
don’t win if he doesn’t play that way,” Coach Jeff
Jones said. “I think his greatest strength is his work ethic.
He is in great condition and plays hard, that’s something you
might not be able to give a tangible evaluation of, but it definitely
pays dividends. He brings a toughness to our team.” After
a successful high school career in Herndon, Va., Thomas attended
Notre Dame Academy for a year before stepping onto the court at
AU, where his father Wilbur played ball in the 1970s. “Out
of high school I went to prep school, and it was tough there,”
Thomas said. “I went there looking to try to get stronger and
more skilled. I had a lot of emotional problems I had to deal with.
I got over them; it was a good eye-opener for me, and it helped
me to find who I was. My freshman year was tough, they brought a
lot of guys in. Personally, all my life I had been playing, and
that first year it was hard to take a back seat to another player.
It made me more humble and more hungry for what I wanted to do,
which was win.” Over
the course of his AU career, Thomas has transformed his game from
that of a scorer to a more complete, all-around player, Jones said. Thomas
attributes his performance this year to his increased assertiveness.
Last season he never fully recovered from a high ankle sprain he
sustained two weeks into fall practice. “All
year I was struggling with that, I didn’t feel like I was the
player I should be,” Thomas said. “I’m healthy now,
and my one goal was to come into the season healthy. That’s
helping me to be aggressive on the court, and that’s what the
team needs.” Against
Vermont, Thomas played a key role in neutralizing Taylor Coppenrath,
the Catamounts’ All-American candidate. “Oftentimes
he guards a guy from the perimeter that is a scorer,” Jones
said. “In this game we asked him and Andre [Ingram] both to
be more help-type defenders. While Coppenrath got 22, he had to
work so hard. Jason and Andre and all the guys did an exceptional
job playing good team defense.” The
atmosphere that night inside Bender Arena during the Eagles’
67-64 victory was electric. “It
was a moment I won’t forget,” Thomas said. “It was
just a great afternoon for basketball. I’ve played in a lot
of big games at AU, playing in the three [Patriot League] championship
[games], and the crowd was in the top four or five since I’ve
been playing here.” A
sweeter taste of success isn’t likely to alter Thomas’s
approach to basketball. “I
am going to stay very humble and know that I have to work very hard
every single day,” he said. “It’s very important
for me to mentally stay focused, energetic, and positive. I have
a different role this year, I’m a senior and a lot of guys
are looking up to me. I have to do everything perfect so they can
see that’s what it takes to win.” |
