Prospect Spotlight: T.J. Thomas (2019)
The Patterson Clippers won the Class 2A crown this past March with a very young, talented roster headlined by two sophomores in Marvin Price and Gerard Mungo. With those two returning, the Clippers will be the favorite to defend their title next season. With a few key seniors still leaving, they need to restore quality depth in order to make a deep run in the state playoffs. That’s where T.J. Thomas comes in.
Thomas transferred from Lake Clifton to Patterson this past January. In the games that he played in for the Lakers, Thomas averaged 12 points, eight assists, and five rebounds per game.
For the meantime, Thomas is playing this spring/summer for Team BBC’s 16U team on the Adidas Uprising circuit. In their tournament this past weekend in Dallas, Thomas averaged over 10 points and five assists per game. He posted 15 points and six assists in their first game.
Thomas has garnered interest from Old Dominion and Virginia Tech. The goal for Thomas is to prove he can play under a well-respected coach in Harry Martin in much slower offensive schemes than he was used to running at Lake Clifton. Although the duo of Thomas and Mungo will always be threats to push the tempo in transition, it’s vital to execute in the halfcourt under Martin’s system.
“I like to get to the basket and then create for my teammates,” Thomas told PrepHoops. “I want to be known as a player who gets everyone around him better.”
Thomas told me he wants to focus on improving his jumpshot, his defense, and his overall endurance to prepare for his junior season. Thomas, Mungo, and Price all have experience playing together since they were little, so chemistry shouldn’t be much of an issue. If both Mungo and Thomas can improve their jumpshots enough for demand defense’s attention to the three-point line, it’ll be tough to stop them from finding driving lanes.
Thomas says he has a 3.6 GPA at this time