Basketball
Favorite athlete: Isaiah Thomas
Favorite team: Villanova Wildcats
Favorite memory competing in sports: Hitting the gamewinner against Pennsbury last year.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When I was little, I almost scored on opposite team’s basket.
Music on iPod: Rap
Future plans: Play college basketball
One goal before turning 30: Finish college and land a job
One thing people don’t know about me: I play the piano
By Mary Jane Souder
Austin Thomas was on Derek Wright’s radar long before he was named head basketball coach of Council Rock South last March.
“When he was an opponent, he was always someone we focused on in scouting reports playing against South because he seemed to be somebody that was able to really get his team going when he was playing well and making shots,” said Wright, previously the coach at Council Rock North. “He was always a very skilled player.”
But it’s more than skill that sets the senior point guard apart.
Roll back the calendar to opening weekend of the season.
Council Rock South was trailing Hatboro-Horsham by double digits late in the title game of the Hatters’ season-opening tournament. Things did not looking promising for the Golden Hawks, but after going scoreless in the first half, Thomas suddenly got the hot hand, burying five three-pointers – four in the fourth quarter, and the Golden Hawks earned a win that might well have set the tone for their season.
While the points were significant, it was his approach when things weren’t going well that told Wright all he needed to know about his senior captain.
“Austin kind of epitomized the idea we talk about – just keep playing despite the score and how we’re shooting and how many points you might have,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “Just keep playing, and he did that and turned the game around for us.”
Mention that game to Thomas, and his first thought is of its significance to his team.
“That was big because we knew Hatboro-Horsham had those guys that were very talented, and it was going to be a hard fought game,” Thomas said of a Hatter squad that includes Indiana commit Clifton Moore. “We’re the type of team – we don’t want to be counted out against anyone.
“We can go in any night and if we play to our potential, we can give anyone a run for their money and even win it. That game at the beginning of the year was a real confidence booster to the way we started, showing us that maybe we can do really big things.”
As for his role in that win, Thomas deflects the credit to his teammates.
“I kind of got hot, but I wouldn’t have been able to do that myself,” he said. “My teammates were really making an effort to look for me.”
It’s hardly a surprise that Thomas was a key piece in making Wright’s transition to a new team a seamless one this season.
“I’m really grateful to him because it’s a tough situation to try to build relationships with kids in a really short period of time,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “You don’t want to be phony because teenagers pick up phoniness in adults right away.
“You want to be genuine, but at the same time, you’re crunched for time. It’s been real natural with Austin. Not that we don’t have disagreements, but when it comes down to it, he just wants to win and have a good experience, which he knows the coaching staff does too.”
Thomas is part of a large senior class that is the heart and soul of this year’s squad.
“They’re all great kids – they’re really likable kids, and they’re fun to be around,” Wright said. “Not that they’re flawless or anything, but when it comes down to it, they’re really, really good kids, and that’s a credit to their families and it’s a credit to the coaching staff before ours, and Austin epitomizes that.”
As the team’s floor general, Thomas is the undisputed leader on the floor.
“We talked with him a lot in the offseason about being the point guard, not necessarily that it’s the best position for him, but that’s the best position for us as a team to have him with the ball in his hands because he communicates very well,” Wright said. “I really think he gets and understands what we want as a coaching staff, and he’s able to let people know where they have to be.
“He’s done a terrific job – we challenged him when we first met him about having to improve defensively and having to improve rebounding even though he’s small in stature, and he’s done a great job with it. He’s really set the tone for us defensively. At practice every day, he’s the most enthusiastic whenever we do our defensive drills, and he’s come up with some really big offensive performances at the end of some games.”
*****
Thomas isn’t quite sure how he inherited his immense passion for basketball. While his brother and cousin both played the sport, neither played at a high competitive level.
“Basketball was a sport that I picked up as a little kid,” he said. “I remember my parents always telling me that I wasn’t really interested in all the little kid toys. I just always wanted a ball.
“I had one of those kiddie nets that they got me, and that was my favorite toy. That’s how I got into it.”
His first experience with competitive basketball came in fourth grade when he began playing travel for the Bustleton Bengals in Philadelphia. By that time, Thomas was hooked.
“I’m a competitive guy, and I just picked up basketball,” he said. “I ended up being pretty good at it, so I had to keep working at it and trying to improve my game, trying to compete with everyone around me.”
When his family moved to the Council Rock School District, Thomas, who was in sixth grade, joined Council Rock’s travel team. He was called up to the varsity midway through his freshman season as a swing player and has been the team’s starting point guard the past three years.
While it’s sometimes difficult asking seniors to learn a new system under a new coach, Thomas and his teammates made it look easy.
“I think what helped with the transition was everyone was motivated,” he said. “We have a small group of guys who are willing to learn and all have a passion for basketball, which I think always helps.
“We knew (coach Wright) had a lot of success at the high school level. He’s one of the best high school coaches in the area, and we knew if we just trusted him and trusted his process that we could do big things.”
The Golden Hawks are in a battle for second place in the SOL National Conference at the midway point of the season.
“We’re still not satisfied with our record and we try not to focus on any of that,” Thomas said. “We just try to play every game like it’s a new game and give it our all.”
Basketball has taught Thomas important life lessons. There’s the time management piece - managing a rigorous practice schedule with homework – and also learning to deal with adversity.
“You’re going to go through trials, you’re going to get calls you don’t like,” Thomas said. “Coach Wright always talks about - next play and attitude, just like (coach) Jay Wright preaches at Villanova, and I think that’s big. Stop focusing on the little things and what’s gong on that’s wrong. Focus more on what’s positive and what you can do better.”
Thomas plans to play basketball at the collegiate level. It’s just a question of where, and he is keeping his options wide open.
“Academically, I’ve applied to Delaware and Penn State,” said Thomas, who has already been accepted at Delaware. “I want to have an academic backup.”
Marywood, Gettysburg and Muhlenberg are interested in acquiring his talents, but Thomas is not about to make a hasty decision.
“My dad always says, ‘God has a plan, and that plan will happen for you,’” he said. “If college basketball is meant for me, I think I’ll go and play.”
An excellent student, Thomas is enrolled in honors and accelerated classes. He’s a member of the English National Honor Society, the Peer Mentor Club, which works with incoming freshmen to make them feel welcome, and the Autism Awareness Club. He is active with Athletes Helping Athletes.
As for his major, Thomas says it’s “100 percent business.”
“But I’m in the middle ground between finance and management,” he said. “I definitely want to do something with numbers because math is one of my strengths.
“That’s like basketball – it’s always been one of my strengths.”
Wright, for one, is glad it is.
“When I got the job, the constant thing I heard from teachers that I work with is how much I was going to love him and what a great kid he is and how much they love him,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “He hasn’t disappointed.
“He’s a bright, enthusiastic kid. He is extremely thoughtful. When you speak to him, he has his eyes on you and is listening. He’s been extremely coachable. He’s a special kid, and I’m really grateful to have had the chance to coach him even if it’s for only one season.”
