For Terryonte Thomas, the grind begins each day around 6 a.m.
The New Hope High School rising junior is determined to play football or basketball on the Division I level. Putting in long hours during the summer will be the key to making that dream a reality.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but really championships are won during the summer,” Thomas said. “You have to have a belief in what you are doing. Then you have to have the mind-set to get the job done.”
New Hope has seen a recent resurgence in its boys basketball program. The upswing has been due in part to the talents of the 6-foot-4 Thomas. Playing in the shadows of The Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen pick and East Tennessee State University signee Shemar Johnson and East Central Community College signee Jaylon Bardley, Thomas proved a capable understudy a season ago.
New Hope went 22-8, won its region tournament, and fell one game shy of advancing to Jackson in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A playoffs.
With three starters lost off that team, the pressure will be on Thomas to keep the new order.
“We have a lot of young players who are going to be really good,” Thomas said. “We really have high expectations. It is my job to make sure those expectations are met.”
Working hard to meet those expectations, the typical summer day for Thomas involves a morning run, a weight training regimen for football, a weight training regimen for basketball, an organized practice for football, an organized practice for basketball, plus some individual side work for both sports.
And the social life?
“There is always an hour to text or tweet the important people in my life before I go to bed,” Thomas said.
The summer was hectic before June 15. On that day, Division I coaches could contact juniors in the Class of 2017 could be contacted by phone or text for the first time. What innocently started as receiving letters here and there quickly turned into an avalanche of phone calls.
Thomas recently told the 247 website Virginia, Iowa State, and Southeastern Louisiana have indicated an interest in him and have offered scholarships. Virginia Tech, Alabama-Birmingham, Troy, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Kansas State, Virginia Commonwealth, and North Carolina State are in Thomas’ next group of schools.
Starkville High School rising senior Tyson Carter confirmed an offer from Mississippi State on Wednesday. With Columbus High rising sophomore Robert Woodard II waiting in the wings, the Bulldogs could be primed to make a Golden Triangle sweep in the next three recruiting classes.
Thomas is comfortable dealing with the recruiting process. Few players have mastered the art of public relations at the age of 16 like Thomas. His name has appeared in numerous recruiting articles, and there are always open and honest quotes within the text.
Most players have Amateur Athletic Union coaches, high school coaches, or family members handling the public relations circuit. In some regard, New Hope High coach Drew McBrayer has helped guide Thomas. He also has a strong family unit in place.
However, when it comes to getting the word out, Thomas makes sure what happens next. While the official recruiting visits are still upcoming, Thomas has taken unofficial visits to UAB, Memphis, MSU, Alabama, and Southern Mississippi.
Then there is football. New Hope won 10 games last season in Kris Pickle’s first year as head coach. Thomas, who is playing wide receiver, and some other basketball players have joined the football team for this season to help keep the program’s numbers up.
Thomas played football from third to eighth grade. However, enough people encouraged him to return to the sport because there is the possibility he could be a sought-after recruit there, too.
“I really enjoyed playing football, but took some time off to concentrate on basketball,” Thomas said. “Since this was my junior year, I felt like this was a good time to go back out and be part of the program. You want as many opportunities to play on the college level. The football interest in picking up in me, and that has been exciting.”
Last month, Thomas was involved with team camps in football and basketball. At MSU, the New Hope football team played well in a 7-on-7 camp. A couple of weeks later, the Trojans lost one game in the basketball camp.
In football, Thomas has attended camps at Southern Miss, Memphis, Louisiana-Lafayette, and MSU.
For now, though, football is on hold. This month, Thomas has a busy schedule on the AAU circuit with Mississippi Basketball Association Hoops. The team will compete in Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Nevada in the weeks ahead.
It’s a grueling schedule. However, Thomas knows where he is going and, more importantly, he knows how to get there.
Scott Walters is a sports writer for The Dispatch. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dispatchscott.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.