Carl Spence, Gleaner Writer
Mugabe Thomas. - ANTHONY MINOTT/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
MALE BASKETBALl star, Mugabe Thomas was a key ingredient to
Jamaica's triumph in the recently concluded Caribbean Basketball Champion-ships
hosted at the National Indoor Sports Centre.
The 6'4" forward, though not performing at his best in terms of scoring in the tournament, managed to average 11.2 points over the five games and was instrumental in breaking up his opponents' defence with his witty passes in attack.
A resident of Franklin Town in Kingston, Thomas left the island in 2002 on a basketball scholarship to Cedarville Univer-sity in Ohio where he had an impressive stint with the school. He led Cedarville to the 2005 National Association of Inter-collegiate Athletes (NAIA) Division II semi-finals and a school-record 28 victories throughout the season.
He was then named to the National All-Tournament team where he started all 38 games while averaging a team-high 16.8 points and 10.8 rebounds. He also led the NAIA Division II team with 25 double-doubles, including a streak in eight straight games.
IMPRESSIVE RECORD
The 25-year-old, former Camperdown and Hydel High student will be graduating from Cedarville University in 2006 leaving behind an impressive record of at least 1431 points and 804 rebounds as of the 2004-05 season.
Thomas is hoping to continue his form in the 2005-06 season so he could become the second player in the school's history to score over 2000 points and 1000 rebounds - a mark only surpassed by Ken Rucker's 2,281 points and 1,200 rebounds during the period 1989 to 1993.
Despite his success in the sport both locally and in the United States, Thomas views the difference in the playing styles of the two cultures as aggressiveness on the part of the Caribbean.
"It's very competitive down here, I think it's real aggressive. Overseas, it's more having a polished game. The guys out here they've got raw talent and overseas they are more polished, more smooth, but I don't think it's that much big of a difference actually."
Mugabe considers himself an all-round player and finds no problem adapting to the style of play of both cultures.
"It's really easy for me to adapt to both games because I consider myself to have an all-round game because when it's time for me to step it up and take over I will do that, when it is time for me to play a role-playing game I will do that.
A MILESTONE
Making reference to the CABA finals match-up against the U.S. Virgin Islands, Mugabe said: "I realised that I didn't need to score that much for us to win, all I needed to do was take care of the ball and make some good passes and that's what I did."
Thomas, who will be spending the rest of his summer in the island, acknowledges winning the Caribbean Championships as a milestone in his career and envisions playing in the NBA some time soon.
"I have had scouts look at me from Cleveland and other places, so I don't know what the future holds for me. At this point I'm not certain, I'm just waiting to talk to my agent so when I get back I'll talk to my agent and see where we go from here."
