BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH – When Johnny Thomas first injured his knee in a pickup game last month, he was devastated. “It was like an atomic bomb going off,” Thomas says.
He went to his older teammates, Gavin Grant and Courtney Fells, for support. “If I am ever in a time of need, they help me out,” says the forward from Morehead City, N.C., who spent his last two years of high school at Greensboro Day School, where current basketball administrative assistant Justin Gainey once played.
Thomas will sit out this season after having his knee surgically repaired. That gives him plenty of time to repay the support he received from his new teammates. He’ll concentrate specifically on giving aid to the other four freshmen: J.J. Hickson, Tracy Smith, Javi Gonzalez and Clayton Beard.
“My role this year is to motivate some of the other freshmen,” Thomas said. “When they are down and out, just remind them that ‘You are on the court, do what you have to do to get the job done.’ My role will be more of a motivator and cheerleader on the sideline.”
This week, exclusively on GoPack.com, learn a little about each of the five newcomers, as they chat with the website in their first interviews since joining second-year head coach Sidney Lowe’s program.
Wolfpack fans can watch at least one interview for the next four days:
- Monday – Johnny Thomas
- Tuesday – Javi Gonzalez, Clayton Beard
- Wednesday – Tracy Smith
- Thursday – J.J. Hickson
Fans will have the opportunity to see the new guys – and all the older ones too – in action on Friday, Oct. 19, at 9 p.m. when the Wolfpack has its inaugural “BBallin’ at the Old Barn,” at Reynolds Coliseum, followed by the Red & White Game on Oct. 27 at the RBC Center. (Tip-off time for the Red & White game will be determined after the game-time for the NC State-Virginia football game is announced.)
As for Thomas, he knows sitting out this year will be difficult, but it will also give him a chance to get started on his ambitious career plans, to become an architect. He would like to one day join several of his five siblings in starting their own company.
“Everything I am doing now is for my family,” Thomas says. “Not a bit of it is for me.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
Courtesy: NC State
