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Oakland
Family Time - QT with QT
By Bret
Dougherty, March 30, 2004
Pictured above:
UNC Basketball signee, Quentin Thomas with his father John Thomas
at Henry J. Kaiser Arena in Oakland CA.
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Oakland is a city that is based on teamwork. From the Teamsters
in the shipyards, to the Hell's Angels in secret clubhouses, to the monks
in community ashrams, the City of Oakland immerses itself in the breeding
of togetherness.
So, with regards to the difficulties that Carolina basketball has had
with team cohesion over the past two years, it is fitting that Coach Roy
Williams looked to the City of Oakland to offer little-known prep basketball
phenom, Quentin Thomas of Oakland Tech High School, a full scholarship
to UNC-Chapel Hill.
Carolina fans and high school talent evaluators know little about the
multi-skilled guard, who has been able to quietly emerge from the shadows
of star-studded surroundings to become an elite high school player. They
have questioned how Thomas will fit into a system that may find six to
seven players competing for minutes at the guard positions during the
next two seasons.
"I really want to do anything to fit into the system on the floor,
and to do whatever it takes off-the-court to make a team feel close together,"
said the soft-spoken Thomas from the living room of his Oakland home,
with the Northern California sun shining through the living room window
on his face.
"At Oakland Tech, I played with a lot of older guys, and from those
times, I realized that I had to play a role to get minutes and wins for
our team. I also realized the more that I passed the ball, the more teammates
had smiles on their faces. Bringing those smiles to faces are what it's
all about."
With braces on his bottom teeth, there is not a lot of smiling lately
from the affable Thomas, who is affectionately called "Q". He
does, however, know a lot about playing a role that will bring the type
smiles associated with winning.
During his sophomore year at Oakland Tech, Thomas played behind future
University of Miami point guard, Armondo "Mondo" Surratt. That
year, Oakland Tech reached the California Division 1 State Finals. Then
in his junior year, he and his Oakland Tech accomplished the same feat
by riding on the wings of McDonald's and USA Today All-American Leon Powe,
a player now blooming as a potential All-American at Cal.
While playing n their shadows, Thomas learned the valuable lesson of
what can come from being a role player on a winning team.
"From those guys, I learned that each person gets his time to shine
in due time. I know that if I'm on a winning team that's how you get noticed."
Thomas benefitted from that lesson during the summer of his sophomore
year. It was then that he learned -- at a Florida AAU tournament -- that
Roy Williams had developed a keen interest with not only Thomas' versatility
but as a team player. Qeuntin's AAU Oakland Rebel coach, Derrick Smith
explains.
"We went down to Orlando that summer, and everyone was watching
Leon. Coach Williams liked Leon a lot, and he was hoping that he could
steer him toward Kansas. On our team, Q handled the ball most of the time,
but what made Q strong was that he knew not only how to get Leon the ball,
but how to get other people the ball too....And this is why I like Coach
Williams. While everyone was gawking at Leon, Coach Williams was looking
at how Q makes his teammates better."
Thomas' passion for team-oriented play came as a result of observing
Oakland's basketball finest. However, he is quick to point out that he
does not model his game after anyone. "I don't compare my game to
anybody. My game is my own...but I do like Jason Kidd and Gary Payton
because of the way they get everyone in the game and make their teammates
better."
When asked if he likes Kidd and Payton because they're from Oakland,
Thomas simply responds. "Nah, honestly, it's a lot why I like Carolina.
They win."
While growing up, the humble Thomas forged his style of play while competing
against more mature players at Oakland's Bushrod Rec Center. Similar to
his situation at Oakland Tech, Thomas often found himself playing in games
against older competition. It was at Bushrod Rec that Thomas claims his
game came to take shape. "The difference at Bushrod was that those
guys won't let you play unless you get them the ball. That's where my
style of play developed."
While growing up in Oakland, the ability to focus on any style of play
for a up and coming high school player is not an easy feat. Thomas' East
Oakland neighborhood has unfortunately been in the news for activities
other than basketball.
The city of Oakland had 114 murders last year and 112 murders in 2002,
a many of them resulting from youth violence, and East Oakland has been
the setting for many of those murders. With the combination of tough economic
conditions, urban youth violence and glamorized street life in the mainstream
media, Oakland has a difficult time mobilizing young athletic talent to
compete in it's public school athletic leagues. The challenge for many
parents and public schools is channeling youth to become a part of organized
teams.
Quentin's father, John Thomas, who grew up in Oakland, believes his son
is an outlier in a city that sees numerous lives thrown by the wayside
due to the pressures of the streets. John Thomas is often visible in the
hallways of Oakland Tech, checking in on Quentin and his friends to see
what is going on with their studies and activities after school. He believes
that he and other fathers showing up made a difference at Oakland Tech.
"There aren't a lot of good fathers around here, and because of
that my wife and I along with other couples knew we had to provide a source
of strength for the community surrounding our sons. That means showing
up at school not just for your own, but for the people surrounding him
to make sure they are getting to class and joining activities after school.
Around that Quentin often asks, 'how come I can't be like everyone else?'
Yet, I told him. 'You have to have good people around you. There's a reason
behind it.' He now says 'I see what you're talking about', and that he
knows that the work is paying off."
John Thomas is also proud is that he often hears the terms "so coachable"
and "so humble" to describe his son, but as Derrick Smith explains,
there's more to behind those terms.
"You want to know what type of kid Quentin is....Our Rebel team
never had a sponsor. The whole time Q was with us, not one... When Q got
hot, a lot of (AAU) programs came around backed by Nike and Adidas and
with tons of gear. Quentin could have easily jumped house. Anyone else
would have, they were offering big-time stuff ... .But Q never left. Not
once... .He was there for the car-washes, selling candy, the whole deal.
That's what Q is about."
The elder Thomas agrees. "Al Payton (ed. note: Gary Payton's father,
a.k.a. 'Mr. Mean') told me that this is a 'business', and with all of
the underhandedness that goes on with shoe companies with AAU teams, it's
very easy to get sucked into that arena. I would like to say that Loretta
and I did good work protecting Quentin from that, but really a lot of
it was Quentin's choosing."
The younger Thomas quietly shrugs off the compliments. "Shoes and
gear don't mean a thing to me. I just like to ball with my team. That
other stuff is not even worth it. Jumping from team to team, you miss
out on all of the fun."
A family-fun type of atmosphere is also what the Thomases were looking
for with their choice of schools. As John Thomas explains, the interaction
between teammates and their attitudes off the court played a major role
on Quentin's decision.
"Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to make an official visit
to Carolina before Quentin's signing," he says. "That scared
us. Yet at that time, we had already made a visit to Kansas. When we were
in Lawerence, we really looked at what type of people are involved with
that program. Although Coach Williams had left, we felt that was his team.
After we saw how everyone on that team handles themselves and interacts
with each other, we didn't have any problem putting our faith in Coach
Williams and Carolina."
As for Quentin, time is ticking toward a new beginning, and he is making
the everyday choices that a high school senior should make -- such as
whether or not he should compete in the high jump or long jump for track,
and whether or not to hang out with his "pad-nahs" at the roller
rink or at home.
Although Thomas states that he is a "little nervous about leaving
home", the close proximity of his buddy and fellow Northern Californian,
DeMarcus Nelson, (who is headed to Duke ) and the potential friendship
with fellow West Coaster and future roommate, Marvin Williams has tempered
his anxiety. Thomas also knows from AAU road trips that his family's voices
are within reach of a good cell phone plan.
"Q" knows the date to head east for Chapel Hill is looming.
In the Thomas family's living room, Quentin's mother, Loretta, has placed
a Carolina pennant over two sliding doors that head out to a sun porch.
The porch has a full view that stretches across all of Oakland, across
the East Bay and to the downtown skylines of both Oakland and San Francisco.
The view is stunning, and she proudly states from first-hand experience
that "on a clear day, you can see clear across the bay."
The way she gazes out the window, you can tell she has pondered numerous
thoughts and visualized many dreams while looking at that view. With Quentin
eased into his family chair, he joins with her looking out the window.
Watching out across Oakland to the Ports in the Northwest and the Coliseum
to the West, perhaps they're envisioning the promise of a new togetherness
for UNC Basketball.
BD
Bret Dougherty is a UNC-Chapel Hill alum and current graduate student
at UNC-Chapel Hill. Bret is a co-host of WXYC SportsRap (9 PM Sundays
on FM 89.3 Chapel Hill & www.wxyc.org). He also has a 'SoulGroove'
music show on Tuesday mornings from 6-8 AM on WXYC. You may check out
more of his work at his information page, www.unc.edu/~bretd..
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