{"id":40518,"date":"2018-11-26T09:24:56","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T14:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=40518"},"modified":"2025-07-23T10:06:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T14:06:06","slug":"royals-athlete-of-the-week-sammy-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/royals-athlete-of-the-week-sammy-thomas\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals Athlete Of The Week: Sammy Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sammy Thomas<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(Owings, Md.\/Northern) is enjoying a great start to his senior season of basketball. He walked away from EMU\u2019s game against nationally-ranked New Jersey City with his first double double of the season (16 points and 12 rebounds), and is currently second in the ODAC with shooting percentage–he\u2019s been sinking 73.9% of his field goal attempts.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Thomas put in a lot of work in the offseason to be ready. \u201cI lifted weights, made sure I got shots up everyday or every other day, I went on a lot of long distance jogs and did a lot of sprints. I maintained a healthy diet and slept right.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also worked to prepare himself mentally for the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept a positive mindset and kept reminding myself that this is my last season playing college basketball and that I need to give everything I have,\u201d he said. \u201cI also prepared mentally by reading my Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The preparation is paying off for Thomas and his team on the court, as EMU\u2019s big man is sixth in the ODAC with 16.3 points per game and tenth at 8.3 rebounds. He is leading the conference with 28.8 points per 40 minutes.<\/p>\n

Thomas lost much of his sophomore season to an injury. Coming out of that, he has been careful to do all the little things to make this season the best it can be.\u00a0\u201c[I\u2019m] realizing that it is my last season and I have to do absolutely everything possible to be ready, including the small things that I failed to do my sophomore year when I got hurt, like stretching everyday, running more, getting a good amount of rest, and eating right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He attributes his development as an athlete to the people around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy supporting cast, such as my family and friends, held me accountable and kept me on track to help me achieve this growth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One of his personal goals for the season is, \u201cto be the best player and teammate I can be, whether that\u2019s making an all-conference team or being a leader on my team.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wasn’t always a basketball player.\u00a0\u201cI have always been taller than people my age and I played every sport but basketball,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cPeople always asked my parents why I wasn\u2019t playing, so they signed me up.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s glad they did.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasketball has always been there for me. When I am sad or having a bad day, I can just go into a gym and shoot around and forget about whatever is going on in my life and clear my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas has appreciated the new atmosphere created by new head coach Melvin Felix,\u00a0who was promoted from his position as assistant coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting,\u201d he explained, \u201cwe do similar things as past years but it feels like it\u2019s a whole new environment. It\u2019s exciting to be a part of. Coach Mel is young and brings a lot of energy and excitement to practices and its fun to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas, a recreation leadership and sports studies major, hopes to stay involved with athletics after he graduates, potentially as a basketball coach.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he’s focused on helping the team to an ODAC Championship this year. \u201cWe came so close last season,\u201d he said, \u201cand our main focus is to get back to Salem. Then when we get back there anything can happen, and I\u2019m confident in this team\u2019s ability to win the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Author Elizabeth Nisly is an intern with the EMU Athletics Department.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sammy Thomas\u00a0(Owings, Md.\/Northern) is enjoying a great start to his senior season of basketball. He walked away from EMU\u2019s game against nationally-ranked New Jersey City with his first double double ... read more about Royals Athlete Of The Week: Sammy Thomas<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5591,17562,4522,5601,14139],"tags":[17628],"feature":[17427,17426],"class_list":["post-40518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-and-leadership","category-digest","category-mens-basketball","category-physical-education","category-student-profiles","tag-melvin-felix","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nRoyals Athlete Of The Week: Sammy Thomas - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/royals-athlete-of-the-week-sammy-thomas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Royals Athlete Of The Week: Sammy Thomas - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sammy Thomas\u00a0(Owings, Md.\/Northern) is enjoying a great start to his senior season of basketball. 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