Prospect Watch: Hayden Thomas (2019)
Class of 2019 guard Hayden Thomas of Twin Rivers is a versatile player who can get things done on the court in a variety of ways.
The 6’3″ Thomas has a skill set that enables him to play virtually every position on the floor, thus making him one of the top small school players in the Southeast Missouri region. On a team that lost six seniors from a 16-9 season in 2017, Thomas will be counted on even more to fill in all of the gaps for Twin Rivers.
“In the next few years, I’m going to have to do a lot of things to help my team win,” Thomas said. “I’m going to have to play different roles from the point guard to the ‘five’ spot. I’ll just do whatever it takes to help my team.”
Thomas has proven to be quite capable of handling the workload for his team. He has the ability to score from nearly anywhere on the floor as he averaged 17 points a game as a sophomore. He has a good set of fundamentals, which he puts to good use on the offensive end. Thomas is one of the better players around when it comes to utilizing shot fakes and head fakes to create his offense.
Thomas is also a very unselfish player who has the ability to make his teammates better. He is an excellent with good court vision. His overall play has attracted interest from schools such as Western Illinois and Harding.
During the summer, Thomas had a chance to play with the Gateway Basketball Club 16U team that competed on the Adidas Gauntlet Circuit against some top national talent.
“Going from a small Class 3 school to the Gauntlet is a whole other level,” Thomas said. “I’m glad I got a chance to experience it and it has helped me quite a bit, especially in terms of playing against top players with the toughness and the length.”