[dropcap]Creighton[/dropcap] junior guard Khyri Thomas isn’t paying any attention to the elephant in the room with him at the Championship Center. Thomas, the two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year in the Big East, knows his name has been slotted into countless mock evaluation lists as a potential first round pick in this summer’s NBA Draft, but even as his career as a Bluejay may be close to it’s final chapter the only thing on his mind is the next game on the schedule.
“I have a lot of room to improve, but for me it’s about getting the other guys ready and getting their reps up,” Thomas said. “I try not to have the team think about the one and done or if I’m going to leave. I try to ignore it and just tell them ‘let’s hoop, let’s get our minds off that.’ If that happens after the season, so be it, but right now the focus is on K-State and then hopefully Virginia or whoever else we play after that.”
Like his senior teammates Marcus Foster, Toby Hegner, Tyler Clement, and Manny Suarez, Thomas knows in the back of his mind that Friday night could be in his final game in a Creighton uniform depending on what he hears from his evaluation in the offseason, but for him he can only control what he can control, and that’s how hard he plays from tip to buzzer against the Wildcats.
“As a basketball player you don’t want to think that way,” Thomas said of this potentially being his last game. “You try to avoid that thought. Yes, it’s way in the back of your head, but you’re just worried about that game at the moment. When you’re out there playing I’m sure that’s the last thing guys think of. The thought is always there, but you have to play your butt off for 40 minutes to make sure you’re not done right away.”
Those 40 minutes were miserable in last year’s NCAA Tournament loss to Rhode Island. The Jays overcame a rash of injuries and off the court turmoil so patch together a spirited three-day run to the Big East Tournament title game, flew back to Omaha for the Selection Show the next day, got their assignment, practiced a couple days, then headed out to the west coast with not much left in the tank. This season, Creighton lost in the quarterfinals to Providence. While that stay in New York was shorter than they wanted it to be it may have proven to be a blessing in disguise because of the extra time it provided for recovery from nagging injuries and late-season fatigue, as well as the amount of preparation they’ll have for their first round opponent in Kansas State.
“We do have a lot more down time,” Thomas said. “We have more time to prepare, and a lot of guys are still recovering so that benefits us as well as being prepared and focused.
“Guys are paying way more attention to detail. Last year everybody was kind of tired and we had a couple injuries. We had just had a long run [in the Big East Tournament] and stuff started happening towards the end of the season. I don’t want to say that a lot of guys were out of it, but not as focused as we are this year. We have a lot of backup help with big Jacob too, and our freshmen are playing well. We have a lot more energy coming off the bench as well as on the court.”
Against Rhode Island the Jays had another Omaha native in Justin Patton who was trying to block out the NBA noise while getting ready for an extended March Madness run. Thomas hasn’t had nearly as much attention as a non-lottery prospect compared to his former roommate, but the potential for distraction and how Creighton has kept those outside forces away from him remains the same. Regardless if the Jays’ season ends this weekend and he decides to stay in school or follow Patton’s path and goes to the NBA this summer, Omaha’s favorite son has enjoyed the journey as a Bluejay up to this point — from starting out as a soft-spoken newbie on campus to growing into the boisterous team leader that will take the court in at home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
“I tried to give it my all this year,” Thomas said. “I felt like I did my job. I obviously have room to improve not just on the court, but off the court, especially in being a leader. It was challenging, but I love challenges. My freshmen year I just sat back and watched everybody do their thing. I wasn’t very talkative. When you’re thrown into that spot you have to step up and talk if you want to win. I wanted to win, so I made the adjustment to be more vocal as a leader and tried to take all of the young guys under my wing.
“I really enjoyed it. It was a new challenge … everyone told me they’ll respect you if you’re their leader, so just talking and being the guy that I am helped me a lot.”