Recruiting Report: LJ Thomas (2022)
There always seems to be an abundance of guards in the North Carolina area, and a new name that has emerged recently has been 6’1” guard LJ Thomas LJ Thomas 6'2" | CG Bull City Prep | 2022 #181 Nation…
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Continue ReadingThere always seems to be an abundance of guards in the North Carolina area, and a new name that has emerged recently has been 6’1” guard LJ Thomas LJ Thomas 6'2" | CG Bull City Prep | 2022 #181 Nation NC of Bull City Prep. The junior came down to the Coaches for a Cure event in February and had a breakout game of 36 points as he almost helped his Bull City team upset the number one team in the country in IMG Post Grad, and we were able to catch up with him to pick his brain a little bit.
“I think a positive thing is that we can build on this, we competed hard and competed well against the top team in the country,” he said. “We came up short and we need to rebound better, we need to continue to work and find that notch to turn it up at the end so we can win the game because we’ve been through a lot of close games.”
Thomas was having a stellar game early, but really picked it up late and went on a tear in the last five minutes, scoring 19 of his game high 36 points including an 11-0 run by himself to tie the game up before IMG was able to get a last minute bucket to win the game. He said he knew it was time to take over and showed he has the ability to.
“When they went on that big run with like 5 minutes left, I knew that I had to bring us back, I knew I had to take over to bring us back and that’s how we were able to get it close,” he said.
While Thomas isn’t one of those super explosive or dynamic guards, he’s a guy who is very deliberate and quick enough to get to his spots, and he simply has a knack for scoring it from all over the floor. He says he’s an all-around guard and compares himself to a couple of guys that have had success with similar games in the NBA.
“I’m a three level scorer, I get my teammates involved, I have a high IQ and I take great shots. I would compare my game to like a Kemba Walker or Chris Paul type of game.”
Thomas came into the Coaches for a Cure with an offer from USC and left picking up an offer from Virginia Tech after his big game. He’s also recently picked up offers from Houston, Wichita State and Depaul since the event as well. He says he’s also been hearing from the likes of Wake Forest, Maryland, Miami, Georgia Tech and many other ACC schools.
While he’s known for his take over ability offensively, Thomas is also aware that he needs to improve on the defensive end to become a more complete player.
“I think I need to improve on defense and need to be more vocal. I’m pretty vocal now but I can always be more vocal and be a better leader.”
When asked why high level schools should recruit him, he didn’t even mention his skill set or ability to score the ball, instead he talked about his desire to win basketball games.
“You should recruit me because I always compete, I’m going to bring it every day and I’m not going to let us lose!”
Thomas will compete against some of the top prospects up and down the east coast on Sunday at the CBG East Coast Elite 24 Camp. He’ll have a chance to show yet again that he can do it against the best of the best, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this summer he becomes one of the most recruited guys on the east coast.