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From USA Today: Link to Article
LSU's Thomas goes from under radar to likely lottery pick
A closer look at LSU forward Tyrus Thomas, likely one of the top five players to be selected in the June 28 NBA Draft:
Age: 19
Position: Small forward/ power forward
Height, weight: 6 feet 9 inches, 228 pounds
Vertical leap: 38 inches
Benchpress max: 240 pounds
Statistical averages: 12.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.1 blocked shots
Best games: Versus Duke in NCAA Tournament, Thomas had nine points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots; vs. Texas in NCAA Tournament, he had 21 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.
NBA comparison: Shawn Marion or Stromile Swift?
LAKE BUENA VISTA — To those on the outside of Tyrus Thomas' inner circle, the 6-foot-9 forward seems like some sort of strike-it-rich overnight success. To those observers, it's as if he's about to parlay two good weeks of college basketball into an NBA fortune.
But to Thomas, a likely top-five pick in the June 28 NBA Draft, this out-of-nowhere emergence has been something he's plotted and planned on for years.
"Really, this doesn't surprise me," said Thomas, the former LSU forward who is preparing for the draft by training at Disney World. "If you were with me every day and every night at the gym, it wouldn't surprise you either. I just feel like my hard work has paid off."
"I honestly don't think all this hit fast. Maybe to the media and public it did, but in my two years of college, I was in the gym every night and a lot of mornings. I was there 6, 7 o'clock in the morning and 10 or 11 o'clock at night. That was two years of hard work. So to me, it wasn't fast at all."
If you missed Thomas' stunning rise from under-the-radar freshman forward to potential NBA star, you're likely not alone. After all, he didn't start playing organized basketball until his junior year of high school. He was hardly a sought-after recruit, and ended up playing college basketball at LSU, a five-minute walk from his home. He redshirted as a freshman, and when this season began, not only was he not an NBA prospect, he wasn't even a starter for the Tigers.
But everything changed for Thomas, 19, in the NCAA Tournament. A 13-rebound, five-block game against Duke announced his presence and a dominating 21-point, 13-rebound, three-block performance against Texas revealed him as a blossoming star.
Thomas declared for the NBA Draft soon after LSU's Final Four loss to UCLA, and most mock-draft projections now have Thomas expected to be picked in the top three. In a matter of months, he's gone from small-town kid hoping to crack the starting lineup to a minicorporation of a player with two agents, a strength/conditioning coach, a nutritionist and a former NBA player (Randy Livingston) putting him through on-court drills.
"When you're hot, you're hot," Thomas said with a sly smile. "Tomorrow is not promised, and I could blow a knee. It's like somebody giving you a lottery ticket now and saying you have $15 million now or you can put it back and you might get $40 million later. You have to take what's given to you. I had to advance on this opportunity."
NBA prospects not nearly as promising as Thomas have converged on Orlando with the league's predraft camp opening at Disney's Milk House. The camp features approximately 50 college players hoping to crack the later stages of the first round or second round of the draft. Many of the top players don't compete in this camp, but they will be in Orlando by the weekend to undergo physicals and testing. Every NBA team will have a representative at the event. However, it is closed to the public.
Thomas worked out for the Toronto Raptors, owners of the top overall pick, the day after the NBA Draft lottery. His representative team denied published reports that Thomas is refusing to work out against other top collegians such as Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge, Connecticut's Rudy Gay and Gonzaga's Adam Morrison. Thomas' agent, Brian Elfus, said Thomas will work out June 15 for the Chicago Bulls, owners of the No. 2 pick, and is tentatively scheduled to work in front of other teams scheduled to pick in the top five.
"We haven't refused any workouts against any players," Elfus said. "Tyrus is open to working out against any of the top players in the draft. He has no problem with that whatsoever."
Elfus said he's heard that the Orlando Magic, slated to pick 11th in the draft, are eager to move up in the draft. However, Elfus said the Magic haven't requested a workout with Thomas.
Because of his rangy wingspan and 38-inch vertical leap, Thomas played primarily at power forward at LSU. And he played that slot well, averaging 12.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.1 rebounds a game.
Those numbers compare favorably to Stromile Swift, who, like Thomas, parlayed two solid seasons at LSU into success in the NBA Draft. Swift was the second pick of the 2000 NBA Draft, but he's been an underachiever in six seasons with the Grizzlies and Rockets.
Clearly, the Thomas camp is trying to distance themselves from the comparisons to Swift. Said Elfus: "They're not even close. I think his head coach at LSU (John Brady) has even said that Tyrus has a motor that doesn't stop and he has the tenacity. They're very different players."
Thomas sees himself more in the mold of Phoenix star Shawn Marion, a player versatile enough to block shots and rebound with power forwards, but also agile enough to shoot with small forwards. His ability to play on the perimeter is something NBA scouts have yet to see, he said.
"I don't feel like I have much to prove," he said. "People say that I didn't shoot the ball well from the outside. But really, I didn't shoot the ball from the outside. I did what the coach asked me to do, which limited me a lot. I wasn't able to play my game and show the things that I can do. I was able to shoot the shot, but I didn't take it."
Some also wonder if his pencil-thin frame will allow him to withstand the NBA's 82-game grind. The past four weeks, he's worked three times a week with noted trainer Tom Shaw in an effort to build more strength. By eating five meals a day and working in the weight room, Thomas has added nine pounds of muscle and boosted his bench press from 200 to 240 pounds.
Thomas said it's that kind of behind-the-scenes work that has gotten him to this point. He resents the "overnight success" label, instead stressing that his basketball skills are just starting to blossom.
"The people who have seen me since I was little watched me go to the park with a basketball, go to school and the barbershop with a basketball and the guy who owns the corner store would always tell me to stop bouncing the ball in the store," he said. "Those people knew what I was capable of being."
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