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Texas A&M Basketball

BREAKING: Elijah Thomas to transfer away from Texas A&M

December 14, 2015
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Elijah Thomas, from Lancaster high school, has decided to transfer out of the Texas A&M basketball program.

The 6-9 freshman power forward was part of the Aggies' most heralded recruiting class in recent history and showed a lot of promise in his future.

However, the start to Thomas' collegiate career was a rocky one; his very short time with Texas A&M has been riddled with injury.

During the team's foreign tour in the summer, Thomas had to sit out two games because he stepped on a sea urchin in the ocean, resulting in a gash on his foot. Then, once the official practices for the season began, Elijah suffered a minor concussion and was forced to the sidelines for a week.

After being cleared for all workouts, the big man injured his foot and was again forced to sit and watch his teammates for another four weeks.

Thomas, who was the most highly rated recruit in the 2015 class, has seen very limited minutes in the first eight games due to all of his setbacks so early. But the setbacks weren't the only reason for Thomas' limited minutes.

After missing five weeks of practice and the emergence of Tyler Davis and Tonny Trocha-Morelos in the post, Thomas found himself deeper on the bench than anyone would have guessed in the preseason.

Matt Sachs, TexAgs Thomas had high-end potential but was struggling with the transition and nuances of the college game. {"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Thomas had high-end potential but was struggling with the transition and nuances of the college game.","MediaItemID":62999}
The Lancaster product didn't mature on the court as quickly as the coaches or he would have liked. In my opinion, his skill level and talent are ready for this level, but his preparation and mental adjustments aren't.

When sharing minutes between the post players, this isn't a huge loss, although Thomas would have certainly helped toward the end of the year. But where this becomes a factor is for the 2016-2017 season.

Thomas is the type of talent that has the potential to play at the next level. His ability to score the basketball in a multitude of ways, combined with his athleticism, is something the A&M fan base has not seen in a maroon and white jersey in a long time.

The Aggies started the season with more depth at the post than most of the teams they will face, but with the deflection of Thomas, Kennedy and company are down a scholarship player that could have potentially grown into a big-time force by the end of the season.

Whether at the end of this year or looking ahead to next season, a roster that would have consisted of Tyler Davis, Tonny Trocha-Morelos, Thomas, Tavario Miller and Robert Williams — the incoming freshman from Louisiana — would be more intimidating and intriguing than one without Thomas suiting up.

Now, Billy Kennedy and company will have to rely on Davis and Trocha (which is proving to be a good combination) as starters, with Tavario Miller and Robert Williams coming off the bench next season. 
Discussion from...

BREAKING: Elijah Thomas to transfer away from Texas A&M

37,333 Views | 42 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by TXAggie2011
Logan Lee
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BREAKING: Elijah Thomas to transfer away from Texas A&M
AeroAg2012
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Father Torque
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Damnit Spav!
TJJackson
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A poster was banned for pointing out Thomas was not at the game and possibly transferring. Seems excessive in hindsight.
MarcAg
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What a knee jerk reaction.
phatpat21
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John_Galt
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I'm not sure how fair it is to describe a guy 10 games into his freshman season as "struggling with the nuances college game". I see seniors on our team struggling with nuances too. Just my opinion...
CDiem05
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That's one way to react to not starting... The other is what Jalen Jones is doing ...
Bunk Moreland
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Great leadership on the bench to let this kid walk away after 10 games. Yes kids leave schools all the time, but coaches who have real leadership qualities keep these guys around and help them understand the light at the end of the tunnel.

One time situation? Fine. This is basically a twice a year trend with Kennedy
TJJackson
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Hard to argue with any of that.
AggieGreg06
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Quitters
TJJackson
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Cappy coaches
GoodAg Paulie
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quote:
That's one way to react to not starting... The other is what Jalen Jones is doing ...

Don't forget how Jones got here.....transfer.
GoodAg Paulie
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I just don't get the mindset of today's kids. If they don't start immediately, they're moving on. What happened to working hard to earn court time??

This one is shocking. He had a great future here if he stuck around.
TJJackson
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This is true, Jalen is a quitter.
Bunk Moreland
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quote:
I just don't get the mindset of today's kids. If they don't start immediately, they're moving on. What happened to working hard to earn court time??

This one is shocking. He had a great future here if he stuck around.


If only we had a HC who didn't foster an environment of transferring players every year
CapCityAg89
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Bunk - about 40% of entering players transfer before their sophomore year. It may seem like a Kennedy problem to you, but it is much bigger than that ...
http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/tracking-transfer-division-i-men-s-basketball
Paul Biegler, Esq.
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quote:
quote:
I just don't get the mindset of today's kids. If they don't start immediately, they're moving on. What happened to working hard to earn court time??

This one is shocking. He had a great future here if he stuck around.


If only we had a HC who didn't foster an environment of transferring players every year


Blame the coaches dude.
GoodAg Paulie
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quote:
quote:
I just don't get the mindset of today's kids. If they don't start immediately, they're moving on. What happened to working hard to earn court time??

This one is shocking. He had a great future here if he stuck around.


If only we had a HC who didn't foster an environment of transferring players every year

Tell me how many of those transfers you miss this year?? Happens to every school in virtually every sport. But keep telling yourself it's a coaching issue if it makes you feel better.
Method Man
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I'm as big a BK basher as anyone but blaming him for this kid or Alex R is weak. Both kids got ****ty advice from dumb people.
Bunk Moreland
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Bunk - about 40% of entering players transfer before their sophomore year. It may seem like a Kennedy problem to you, but it is much bigger than that ...
http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/tracking-transfer-division-i-men-s-basketball


No, it's a Kennedy problem when we are told after he has failed to meet expectations every single season that he HAS to stay due to the recruiting class, then he loses a prized recruit after 10 games.

What's the % of players leaving after 10 games? What about top 40 recruits leaving after 10 games?
Bunk Moreland
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quote:
I'm as big a BK basher as anyone but blaming him for this kid or Alex R is weak. Both kids got ****ty advice from dumb people.


It wouldn't be if it were a more isolated situation. But again, my rub is we were told BK must stay due to recruiting class. Already lost 25% of it after 10 ****ing games
FTAG 2000
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I'm as big a BK basher as anyone but blaming him for this kid or Alex R is weak. Both kids got ****ty advice from dumb people.

And Kennedy was apparently unable to overcome said stupid advice. Isn't keeping kids on campus one of the responsibilities of his job?
Method Man
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Don't take this wrong, but you sound dumb.
gphid97
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Not sure why Logan answered the question about Thomas the way he did this morning (repeating verbatim BK's postgame response that Thomas should be back soon). Either he had no idea this was coming (highly unlikely) or he just didn't want to address it. In that case, why not just say "I'm not going to get into that"? That way when the truth comes out less than 12 hours later listeners don't have to feel misled by both the coach AND by Logan. I guess that's just part of the problem when the team is covered by a former coach...
Method Man
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Id like to hear about that.
Meximan
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quote:
...but with the deflection of Thomas...
Know Your Enemy
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quote:
Great leadership on the bench to let this kid walk away after 10 games. Yes kids leave schools all the time, but coaches who have real leadership qualities keep these guys around and help them understand the light at the end of the tunnel.

One time situation? Fine. This is basically a twice a year trend with Kennedy

If not for his father telling him to turn his ass around and go back to College Station Acie Law would've left because of Gillispie. The "let the kid walk away" part is asinine. If a kid wants to quit on his team what can the coach do? Tell him he's not allowed to leave?
mikesyracuse1
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quote:
I'm as big a BK basher as anyone but blaming him for this kid or Alex R is weak. Both kids got ****ty advice from dumb people.


Had too many people in his ear and they were the ones who pushed the decision to the other side.

Mikesyracuse1
Logan Lee
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quote:
Not sure why Logan answered the question about Thomas the way he did this morning (repeating verbatim BK's postgame response that Thomas should be back soon). Either he had no idea this was coming (highly unlikely) or he just didn't want to address it. In that case, why not just say "I'm not going to get into that"? That way when the truth comes out less than 12 hours later listeners don't have to feel misled by both the coach AND by Logan. I guess that's just part of the problem when the team is covered by a former coach...
I answered the way Coach Kennedy answered the question because that was the official statement. I did NOT go into any type of detail and left it at that.

The reason I answered that way is because there was a decent chance Eli wasn't going to leave and this news would have never made it to the internet or been any type of factor in anything. Had I answered the way you wanted me to answer, it most likely would have started a forest fire and I would have spent the entire day trying to explain my answer. AND, had Eli decided he wasn't going to go through with the transfer, I would have started an entire cliff jumping session for no reason.

I stand by my decision for two reasons: 1. It was the best answer for the situation as a whole, being that this entire situation may not have happened, and 2. I felt by saying anything besides what the official statement was, it could have harmed the situation.

I don't mind you asking why I said what I said, but the last sentence of your post is completely off base. Would you rather have insight from a guy who never played the game or never went through the battles at this level? Would you rather learn about the team from a guy who the staff doesn't trust or talk to at all? I actually have a completely different outlook because of my background. I've been on both sides of the fence. I've played basketball at the college level. I've coached basketball at the college level. And I've covered collegiate basketball in the media. My thought process is certainly different but that's because I look at every situation from all angles.
Method Man
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quote:
quote:
I'm as big a BK basher as anyone but blaming him for this kid or Alex R is weak. Both kids got ****ty advice from dumb people.


Had too many people in his ear and they were the ones who pushed the decision to the other side.

Mikesyracuse1


Seems common these days.
wtr1975
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This one is not on our current staff. I was truly looking forward from the outset to see how he developed and blossomed. The kid obviously is getting bad advice. Life is tough and filled with difficult situations. Quit now and you quit the game rest of your life.
BobOliver2006
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I'd imagine that it didn't help for him to see Davis, Hogg, and Gilder get heavy rotation minutes from day 1... but I assume he'd have been in the rotation too if he hadn't been injured (assuming he was ready mentally). I guess he couldn't beat Tavario's motor in practice to step ahead of him off the bench...
RedassAg04
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quote:
Would you rather learn about the team from a guy who the staff doesn't trust or talk to at all?


Logan you're just falling victim to an overall sentiment that Texags is becoming too reliant on being a press arm of the University and not willing to rock the boat by calling out bad performance.
TJJackson
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Texags does feel like it is becoming the outlet to control the narrative for the University. Case in point, the poster that was banned saying Thomas was transferring and that's why he wasn't dressed out for the game.
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