 "Photo: Jen Stiles")
Farris Thomas’ approach to life on and off the court is similar: He defends.
But the senior guard/forward on the Plattsburgh State men’s basketball team defends the opponent’s strongest offensive player on the court.
Off the court, he defends and helps underprivileged kids.
Labeled a “deep thinking kid” by Head Coach Tom Curle, Thomas is an Educational Opportunity Program advocate.
“He is very concerned with a lot of issues outside of basketball,” Curle said.
But Curle said Thomas didn’t always have such a strong defensive mindset. Like most incoming freshmen, he wanted to score points. As time went on, Thomas began to embrace a different role on the team, focusing on gaining possessions through rebounds and taking pride in shutting down the opponent’s best offensive player.
Thomas has prided himself on his defense since high school and believed coming in that it was the strongest part of his game. That confidence was short-lived after having to match up every day in practice as a freshman against former Cardinal stars Travis Gorham and Khylan Hunt, three- and two-time All-SUNYAC honorees, respectively.
A senior year in which he has matched up against some high powered offensive players has helped Thomas realize where he can make the biggest impact on the team.
“I know that’s what my team needs out of me,” Thomas said. “So that’s what I need to do.”
Making personal changes to adapt to his environment is nothing new.
Being one of only two seniors on the team, in the beginning of the year he took on a more vocal leadership approach. As the season progressed, Thomas realized a more action-based method of leadership might be better suited for him.
“I closed my mouth and showed them I’ll do whatever it takes to win,” Thomas said. “I let my actions speak for themselves.”
To prepare for opponents, Thomas watches game tape and has gone as far as having Curle take him out on the court to show him what the strengths are of the player he’s facing that week. Although Thomas said the offensive player usually has the upper hand because he can decide what he’s actually going to do, it still helps to prepare for what they’ll likely do.
“It gives me an edge to know what they do best and how to stop them at it,” Thomas said.
Thomas’ work ethic on the court can be matched only by his passion off the court for helping the youth and the underprivileged. A human development and family relations major at PSUC, Thomas wants to work with disadvantaged youth.
Due to graduate in December, he hopes to attend graduate school for school counseling or criminal justice, possibly working as a guidance counselor or with juvenile delinquents.
Thomas’s enthusiasm is evident when talking about his latest undertaking. This fall, Thomas has an internship in which he will go to local high schools and work with underprivileged kids with disabilities.
“Lots of them have socializing problems,” Thomas said. “They’re students who weren’t given a chance.”
Chances are something Thomas can appreciate. Unsure if college was right for him, he hesitated to return to PSUC in the beginning of his sophomore year. Having grown up in a single-parent household, he worried about leaving his mother home alone. Thomas’s mother, LaTanya, along with Curle, urged him to return to school.
“As a parent you give your kids values and morals,” LaTanya said. “Just because things don’t go your way, just because things get tough — you need to hang in there.”
Thomas kept an open mind while speaking with his mother, who stressed how important education was to his future. When it came to basketball, he had the benefit of speaking with his brother, Chaz, who played at Haverford. More than two years later, Thomas and his mom joke about leaving each other.
“He says, ‘Mom when I was in high school you used to say you couldn’t wait until I was gone and now that I’m gone you say you can’t wait for me to come back’,” LaTanya said. “I tell him when I say ‘come back,’ I mean visiting.”
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