Thomas Hennen – Old School Tough
“He worked his butt off for so long to be this good.”
Those are the words of Shane Hennen, the summer coach and family member of Minneota senior Thomas Hennen. Shane was speaking of the pure love that Thomas has for the game of basketball and the work he has put into the game.
“He’s not the most “skilled” or the quickest player I know but he’s the most reliable scorer I’ve coached,” Shane said. “He’s not going to shake anybody but he understands driving angles and plays off the defenders feet very well. Every shot he takes seems likes good shot to me.”
Thomas scored 16 a game as a sophomore, 20 a game as a junior, and now as a senior Thomas has produced at an even higher level. Minneota has two losses this year and enters the playoffs as a top contender to take home the Class A crown. As one of the only teams to beat preseason #1 Springfield and with wins over defending champs RTR, the Minneota Vikings are sitting in a good spot.
“I’ve seen my team grow in our work ethic,” Thomas told NHR. “As the season has gone on and we are getting ready for a playoff push, we are ready for the hard work. It’s been really good to see everybody prepare to put in the work.”
The hard work starts with Thomas. This is a young man that is not only a three sport athlete, and an AAA award nominee (academics, arts, and athletics) but also the type of competitor that played spring/summer ball with BBA Force while also training with Shane relentlessly. So much so that Thomas would often stay at the house at Shane to work out the night before and then get up the next day and grind out another set of workouts.
That work has resulted in Thomas being a scorer that can produce from several different spots on the floor.
“Thomas is an old school type of player,” Shane said. “Physical, strong, finishes with his left and right hand and can shoot the lights out. Not fancy. Just solid. His ability to shoot open shots and even contested shots has opened up the rest of his game.
“Basketball is a lot easier when guys have to close out on you harder and Thomas understands that. We have also spent time in the gym developing a mid post game and a low post game. Giving him a couple go to’s and a couple counters. He really has the ability to score from everywhere on the floor.
“Thomas can stretch the floor for a team and be a catch and shoot guy and has also developed his ball handling skilled enough to where he can bring the ball up the floor and be a point guard. He brings small guard matchups to the post and stretches out bigger slow defenders to the permitted.”
Can Thomas get a water break? Maybe but it better be quick!
“He’s a guy you don’t want to sub out,” Shane said of Thomas. “At any point he could rattle off ten straight (points). I told him to shoot every time he was open. No matter what.”
The next Hennen up is Jacob, a sophomore who was a Freshmen All State player a year ago. Thomas described what it’s like to have Jacob as a teammate.
“It obviously has its pros and cons. We definitely push each other and jab at each other in practice. We know each other’s game, so we basically know where we are both at at all times. He’s a huge part of our team.
“One special moment I remember is when he hit the game winner against Lakeview in sections last year, it was awesome. I’ve been playing with him for a long time, and I’ve grown up right alongside him on the court.”
Along with their growth has come the growth of a team. Wins over Springfield, RTR, Jackson County Central, Westbrook-Walnut Grove, and Dawson-Boyd highlight the season Minneota has had to date.
“What makes us a good unit is our unselfishness,” Thomas said. “I think that we all do a good job of feeding whoever is having the best game. We have a lot of scorers on our squad. One thing that we can improve on is our team defense. We can always work on defense and that will be a big thing for us going forward.”
Minneota is giving up 55.4 points a game which is solid when you score 80 plus a night as a team, but some of the best teams in Class A basketball are allowing under 50 points a game, so there is room for more Viking growth.
The playoffs begin tomorrow for Minneota when they take on Lakeview at 11am tomorrow at Montevideo (the site of four section playoff games tomorrow).
For Thomas Hennen this is the last run at the high school level. As a 6-foot-4 skilled small forward Thomas is certainly to have several options to play college basketball next year (Thomas wants to go into Business while in college). But that’s pushing way too far into the future.
Right now all Minneota and Thomas Hennen are thinking about is a state tournament appearance and a shot at the title.