Rosemont's Thomas An Impressive Talent
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One of the best-kept secrets on the Philadelphia-area college basketball scene this season calls Division III Rosemont College on the Main Line home.
Senior guard Marcus Thomas is doing it all for the Ravens. Through 15 games, the Delaware Valley Charter High School product is averaging 22.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game for Rosemont.
In a 91-85 loss to Keystone on Saturday, his skill set was on full display as he finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists in 35 minutes.
His scoring average has him in the top 30 nationally, but he's doing his best to take everything in stride.
"I'm extremely happy with my success," Thomas tells KYW Newsradio, "but I give a lot of credit to my teammates and my coaching staff for just believing in me."
Listen to the entire interview with Rosemont's Marcus Thomas
Thomas started his career at Manor College, a junior college out in Jenkintown, and he actually arrived at Rosemont with little fanfare.
"He was at Manor College and I had actually gone to recruit one of his teammates," Rosemont head coach Bob Hughes tells KYW Newsradio. "I saw this young man who was tall, he was skinny, he was lanky and he had good athleticism. He didn't play a lot for Manor, he obviously didn't score much for them, but I liked him and I thought it never hurts having big guards. I mean he was probably 6'1" at the time, he's grown a couple inches since then. Pretty immediately, from the time he got here last fall, we realized, 'Wow, we could have a player here.' It took him a little while to adapt to the system, I think adapt to the college game, at this level, is a little bit different. Once he did that, his numbers have just been through the charts."
Listen to the entire interview with Rosemont's Bob Hughes
Thomas averaged 14.7 points a game last season for the Ravens but he has taken his game to a whole different level here as a senior. His offensive game is a patient one and he's just as comfortable shooting the three as he is creating off the dribble and he can get the rim consistently.
"I put a lot of work in over last summer," Thomas says. "Coming into this year, I was really noticed in the league as just a shooter and I just wanted to develop my game coming into my senior year."
During one six-minute stretch early in the second half against Keystone on Saturday, Thomas completely took over the game. He scored 17 points, with the stretch including a couple of threes, a dunk and an old-fashioned three-point play. Performances like that make life easy for Coach Hughes.
"A lot of our offense is designed around trying to get him into scoring opportunities and places where he can be successful," Hughes says. "When he gets that hot hand there's no reason for me to try to do anything else. I mean he makes me look like a really smart coach."
Thomas is also a captain for the Ravens and that is a responsibility he says he takes very seriously.
"I feel as though guys defer to me," Thomas says. "They listen to me. I try to lead them on the court, off the court. Just about every aspect of our team I try to lead us."
Thomas and the Ravens return to the court on Wednesday night to host Immaculata.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
