Image by John Love/Lowell Sun
03/08/2018
Lowell Sun
By Matt Langone
Last Saturday afternoon, the curtain closed for the final time on the Jahad Thomas Show at UMass Lowell.
If you were lucky enough to catch a viewing -- or many, many viewings, as I was -- over the past four years, you know just how captivating that show truly was.
Basically, the premise of the plot was this: a 6-foot-2, 220-pound lefty from Williamsport, Pa. filled the stat sheet on a nightly basis with the quickness and ball-handling of a guard and the muscle and strength of a linebacker-turned-power forward. And he did all of that while dumping every ounce of heart and energy that he had into every basketball game that he played.
For those in the know, Thomas was appointment viewing. For those who missed it, I feel sorry for you, because you missed something special.
Thomas' college career came to an end with the River Hawks' 89-77 loss to UMBC in the America East Conference quarterfinals five days ago. He had 18 points, 16 rebounds and four assists in the contest. It was just another day at the office for a player whose accomplishments won't soon be forgotten.
"I mean this in the nicest way possible, he's a freak of nature," said 17th-year Albany head coach Will Brown earlier this winter. "I've been in this league for a long time and I think I won't be kicking myself in the butt for saying that in all the time I've been in this league -- there's been some great players -- but he is the most unique player that I've ever seen in this league.
I was watching clips of him against Stony Brook and he's being guarded by a 6-foot-10 kid, who weighs like 280, and Thomas is backing him down, pivoting in 87 different directions and still gets a left-handed shot off five feet from the basket undeterred. Obviously he's honed his craft and he plays within himself, but to be that unique of a player and have that much of a skill set and for nobody in this league -- and I've watched all the games -- and nobody can guard him one-on-one."
This season, Thomas became just the second Division 1 college player in the last 25 years to average 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and 1.5 steals per game. The other was former NBA great Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, who did it for Memphis in 1992-93. Thomas led the America East in scoring (21.1 ppg) and was the only player in the conference in the top five in scoring, rebounding (8.4 rpg), assists (4.0 apg), field goal percentage (51.5%) and steals (1.8 spg).
He was an All-Conference First Team selection as a junior and senior. He also became the fourth player in UMass Lowell history to amass more than 1,500 career points and 800 career rebounds, and he's the only player to do so at the Division 1 level. He ranks seventh in school history in scoring. His 40 points in the regular season finale win over New Hampshire was the most points in a single game by a River Hawk since John Paganetti had 46 on Nov. 29, 1981.
Not bad for a dude who was absurdly under-recruited coming out of Williamsport High School, where he also starred in football and track.
But perhaps the intangibles are even more impressive than the on-court exploits. Thomas was a quiet, humble leader but commanded the respect of his teammates and opponents. He was always accountable and always encouraging -- a coach's dream. And you better believe UMass Lowell head coach Pat Duquette was happy to have him.
"He was one of the first players to say 'yes' to UMass Lowell," said Duquette.
Saying "yes" mattered because Thomas spent his first three seasons at UML while the program was finishing its four-year transition to Division 1 and was not postseason eligible. In fact, he was only afforded a chance to play in the postseason as a senior because he was forced to medical redshirt as a freshman in 2013-14 due to a torn ACL. Twenty-two games into the 2014-15 season, he tore his other ACL.
The injuries, as serious as they were, never got the best of Thomas. He returned in 2015-16 and started every game en route to leading the team in points, rebounds, assists and field goal percentage. He also never wavered from his style of basketball -- aggressive, gritty and all-out effort at all times.
After the season-ending loss to UMBC, Duquette said Thomas "will forever be remembered as a foundation type-of-guy at UMass Lowell." An important piece to the program's development and where it goes in the future.
There's no denying that Thomas has the ability and attitude to succeed somewhere at the professional level. But if this was it for his basketball career, it was a heck of a show.