Signing day: Antonio Thomas makes his commitment to Bradley official
Signing day for Memphis East senior point guard Antonio Thomas was the icing on the cake. Thomas didn’t waste any time this past high school basketball season to commit to a school. Well, before his final season started, he committed…
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Continue ReadingSigning day for Memphis East senior point guard Antonio Thomas was the icing on the cake.
Thomas didn’t waste any time this past high school basketball season to commit to a school. Well, before his final season started, he committed to Bradley in September of 2018, but Wednesday made his commitment official when he signed his national letter of intent.
Thomas isn’t one of the flashy guards in the 2019 class. He doesn’t stick out to some because of that. But he plays hard, and he knows how to run an offense. From a physical standpoint, he’s one of the solid point guards in the 2019 class. Thomas is roughly 6-foot-1 and weighs 180 pounds and plays aggressive on the defensive end.
His expectations are high heading into his freshman season for the Braves. Thomas’ goal is to help Bradley win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, and once the Braves get there, he’s hoping for a deep run that could led to a national championship.
Last season, Bradley (20-15) made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006 after rallying from 18 points down to defeat Northern Iowa in the MVC Championship game. Before that, the Braves defeated top-seeded Loyola in the semifinals round.
Bradley’s season ended in the round of 64 to No. 2 seed Michigan State by the final score of 76-65.
“I expect to get freshman of the year; I expect to break a lot of records,” Thomas said with his red Bradley Under Armour pullover hoodie on, matching the school’s black hat, stamped with the letter “B” in red. “I hope I can help them win the MVC Tournament again.”
This is a good situation for Thomas as he’s stepping into a program that will return a proven leader at point guard in Darrell Brown, the former Germantown High standout. Brown, a Memphis, TN native, has been in contact with Thomas about joining him at Bradley. Thomas has been a fan of Brown since his playing days for the Red Devils.
Thomas admitted Brown played a huge factor in his commitment to become a part of the Braves family.
“Me and him are real good friends, so we have talked, we have worked out together,” Thomas said. While he was here, I just watched and learned from him. We watched film together. We watched NBA games together. Darrell is a real good guard.
“Just learning from him, watching how he maneuvers, make plays for his teammates and make plays for himself was a great thing to watch.”
Brown, 5-10, had a solid junior season as he averaged 14.8 points, 3.2 assists, and 1.9 rebounds per game for Bradley, which finished 9-9 in league play this past season. Brown shot a high percentage from 3-point range, making 44.4 percent of his attempts.
Thomas is the third player from this past season’s Mustangs team to commit to a Division 1 program. The No. 1 player in the 2019 class James Wiseman and 6-8 forward Malcolm Dandridge, another top five player in the state of Tennessee, both committed to the University of Memphis.