Player to coach: Thomas starred for Red Raiders, Pitt-Greensburg before coaching career
Submitted photo
Uniontown graduate Marcus Thomas is shown during his playing days at Pitt-Greensburg where he totaled 1,033 points and 808 rebounds.
Submitted photo
Uniontown graduate Marcus Thomas is currently the head men蘑菇视频 basketball coach at Mount Aloysius College.
John F. Brothers | 蘑菇视频.
Uniontown蘑菇视频 Marcus Thomas (3) hangs in the air before putting in a shot against Southmoreland during the 2011-12 season.
Submitted photo
Uniontown graduate Marcus Thomas is shown during his playing days at Clarion.
Former Uniontown High School basketball standout Marcus Thomas has turned his love of hoops into a promising coaching career.
Thomas became involved in athletics at an early age.
鈥淚 started my introduction level at five or six,鈥� Thomas stated. 鈥淚 was invested in basketball and all the sports since day one. I did a number of local leagues. I was living in the Jefferson-Morgan district at the time. I played in a number of elementary leagues. As I got a little bit older we did the church league in Uniontown for a few years.
鈥淚 moved to Uniontown for high school going into ninth grade. The playgrounds were a big part of my development. Playing outside, all my closest friends had hoops in there driveways, my grandparents had a hoop and I played every day. I did play at the Grant Street playground when I got older. I played at Grant Street for two summers. I grew up at Grant Street and at Bailey Park a little bit. All that stuff helped shape my work.鈥�
Thomas is known for basketball, but he also participated in other sports at Uniontown.
鈥淚 spent a little bit of time playing football,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淎 little bit of time playing golf and I also did track. I played into my sophomore year in football and then I picked up golf and I did that as a junior and a senior. I did track for my last three years.鈥�
In track his events were the javelin, the high jump and the discus.
鈥淚 made it to WPIAL finals in the javelin as a junior and a senior,鈥� Thomas recalled. 鈥淚 took a real interest in the javelin and actually got some private lessons and I developed really well and had a successful couple of years throwing the javelin.鈥�
Thomas wasn鈥檛 quite as successful on the links.
鈥淚 was inconsistent,鈥� he laughed. 鈥淚 loved to golf and it is probably the most challenging sport that I ever played. I always played golf, I got solid playing every day. Nothing special, I was at the bottom of the Uniontown rotation like the five or six man, but I had a lot of fun doing it.鈥�
On the gridiron Thomas was on the squad as a freshman and sophomore on Red Raider teams that went 6-4 in 2008 and 7-4 in 2009.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Thomas excelled on the hardwood for the Red Raiders who posted a 6-14 overall record and went 4-7 in Section 3-AAA in 2009-10. Uniontown captured the Section crown in 2010-11, going 11-1 in the section and finishing 17-7. In the playoffs that season they downed Mars 59-42 and fell to South Fayette 87-58. In the PIAA playoffs the Raiders beat Forest Hills 62-60 and were beaten by Franklin 56-50.
鈥淭hat was by far our best year,鈥� Thomas opined. 鈥淲e were super-talented with a good group with myself and Daryl Ricks, Jordan Pratt and Chris Kezmarsky. We had a lot of good pieces that year.鈥�
In Thomas鈥� senior campaign of 2011-12 the Red Raiders finished 15-7 and won Section 3 with a record of 9-3. They were ousted from the WPIAL playoffs by Blackhawk 52-43.
鈥淚t is a game against Blackhawk that stands out for me,鈥� Thomas lamented. 鈥淚 felt like it蘑菇视频 a game we should have won. We didn鈥檛 play very well.鈥�
Thomas scored 84 points off the bench for the Red Raiders in his sophomore year. As a junior starter he notched 296 points and he tallied 414 points as a senior for a career total of 794 points.
Looking back, Thomas felt he had a good relationship with coach Rob Kezmarsky.
鈥淎bsolutely we had a great relationship,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淗e pushed me into trying not to be selfish and move the ball around. He got me to challenge myself to be more aggressive and make more plays. That really helped with my transition in my junior year. He was great and he gave me a lot of freedom. He was very direct with guys, he let you know if he didn鈥檛 like what you were doing. We still have a great relationship today.鈥�
Thomas was pleased with his career at Uniontown.
鈥淚 thought it was good,鈥� Thomas stated. 鈥淚 really didn鈥檛 feel like I was peaking until my sophomore year in the summer when I was playing AAU. That蘑菇视频 when my game got to the next level. I was grateful to two really good years individually and collectively. I enjoyed my career with Uniontown.鈥�
When Thomas graduated from Uniontown in 2012 he had some college basketball offers to sift through.
鈥淚 was chasing a Division-II offer,鈥� Thomas explained. 鈥淚 had a number of really good Division-III offers, but I wanted to try and get a scholarship and I didn鈥檛 commit during my senior year. I ended up playing the open period of AAU after my senior year. Seton Hill and Clarion both kind of reached out late. Clarion gave me a ton of aid and I jumped on the Division-II opportunity. It wasn鈥檛 a great fit for me and I was red-shirted and didn鈥檛 play.
鈥淚 started looking around and it pretty much came down to Saint Vincent and Pitt-Greensburg and I ended up choosing Pitt-Greensburg and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.鈥�
Under coach Steve Stricklan, Pitt-Greensburg gradually improved, going 12-14 in 2014-14, 14-13 in 2014-15 and 19-10 in 2015-16 with the school蘑菇视频 first NCAA playoff appearance.
鈥淲e got better every year,鈥� Thomas stated. 鈥淲e had the same group and it was a really unique situation . I graduated with eight seniors on our team, so we were a very mature group and a very experienced group. We lost our gym that senior year because it flooded. We didn鈥檛 have a home game or a senior night. We were scattered for the last month of the season. It was a pretty remarkable season.鈥�
Thomas had a solid career for the Bobcats tallying 1,033 points in his career with 808 rebounds.
When Thomas graduated from Pitt-Greensburg he got into coaching, but that wasn鈥檛 always the plan.
鈥淚t was something that was mentioned to me,鈥� Thomas recalled. 鈥淚 actually didn鈥檛 really think about coaching until I went to Clarion. They had a coaching minor and I minored in athletic coaching. I did a year of that and that got me interested in coaching. I graduated in 2016 and I was lucky. Christian Kezmarsky, who is a really good friend of mine, was at Robert Morris as a manager and he connected me with coach Andy Toole. I graduated with a psychology degree so I needed to get a masters for a counseling career. I went to Robert Morris as a grad assistant. I went there for two years and got my masters.
鈥淎gain it蘑菇视频 a lot about who you know. Being at Robert Morris, one of their former staff members, Dave Richards, was hired as head coach at Division-III Chatham in Pittsburgh. He hired me an assistant. I was there for one year and we won their first championship. Penn State Fayette opened up and I wasn鈥檛 intrigued by it. But after thinking it over I decided to go after it and was hired as head coach. I was there two years, but we only got one official season because of Covid. We went 10-15, we were OK.鈥�
Opportunity came knocking again for Thomas.
鈥淚 was counseling full-time throughout all these years,鈥� Thomas explained. 鈥淚 was kind of getting burned out with counseling and I made a decision to look around for another coaching job. A job opened up in the league I played in, the AMCC at Division-III Mount Aloysius College in Cresson. I got the job. I鈥檓 in my second year, we had injuries and struggled in my first year finishing 5-20.鈥�
Year two for Thomas has started and through Nov. 3 the Mounties are off to a 3-3 start.
Thomas, 28, resides in Cresson, Pa. with his wife Katie. They have been married since September.
鈥淚鈥檓 extremely happy that I got into coaching. It feels like the best thing for me. I love helping guys and watching them grow,鈥� Thomas stated. 鈥淚鈥檓 grateful that opportunities have played out the way that they did.鈥�
George Von Benko蘑菇视频 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Sunday editions of the 蘑菇视频. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.