Local Basketball Player Looking to make an Impact for the Herd

Local Basketball Player Looking to make an Impact for the Herd

By Michael Morgan

The Marshall Thundering Herd men’s basketball team got a big scoring upgrade with the signing of a local high school athlete, who may provide a replacement for the nation’s leading shot-blocker Ajdin Penava.

Luke Thomas, a freshman guard from Proctorville, Ohio, signed with the Herd this past offseason as a walk-on. Thomas had scholarship offers from smaller schools such as Urbana University, the University of Akron, and Marietta College, but decided on the Herd for his collegiate career. Thomas noted the Herd’s success in the NCAA Tournament as a big reason for his signing to play there in 2018. “I wanted to play here to get a chance at a national title, being a part of this team is an honor and I’m really glad I chose to play here,” Thomas said.

The Dragon’s statistician said that Thomas averaged 15 points per game for the Fairland Dragons last season, leading them to a 20-4 record, an Ohio Valley Conference championship, and an appearance in the regional semifinals in Division II. Thomas was also an important piece to the Dragons Division III Final Four team in 2016 as a junior.

Due to the team’s success in the postseason as well as his summer AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) play, Thomas began being noticed when he was just 15. “I knew I had a chance to play college ball my sophomore year going into the summer. The school contacted me during my AAU period,” Thomas said. From that moment on, Thomas had his sights on college basketball.

The 6-foot-1 shooting guard was one of three career 1,000-point scorers that Fairland had last season, all signing to play college basketball as well. Head basketball coach Nathan Speed spoke highly of Thomas’s IQ regarding basketball, aside from his play on the court. “His basketball IQ is off the charts,” Speed said. Speed believes that Thomas fits into Marshall’s style of play and has a chance to make an impact early on.

Scoring has not been an issue for Thomas as of late, made evident last season against Gallia Academy on Dec. 19. Thomas scored 10 points in under 30 seconds, making two 3-pointers, and then two layups off steals. Coaches such as Marshall head coach Dan D’antoni knew that Thomas had a chance to play Division I basketball after that performance.

Transitioning into Marshall’s quick shooting offense has been easy for Thomas, with there being just one challenge: “the speed of the game, and just making decisions quick with the pace that Marshall plays,” Thomas said. With weeks of practice, the adjustment came and Thomas feels as if he has played for the Herd for years already.

There is a chance that Thomas may be redshirted this season but that would just leave more time to improve and get better, which Thomas has no issue with.

Thomas and the Herd open up their season on Nov. 7 against Eastern Kentucky University. When the Herd return to Huntington on Nov. 11 against Hofstra, number 34 will be playing for the Herd in the Cam Henderson Center.

Leave a reply

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>