Lance Thomas: King of the Louisville Basketball Bench Mob

After just one season on campus playing for the Louisville basketball program, sophomore forward Lance Thomas has decided to move on.

A big topic of conversation heading into the basketball offseason and after Chris Mack was hired as the new Louisville basketball head coach was whether any of the returning underclassmen would transfer.

After playing for Interim Coach David Padgett and receiving less minutes than maybe initially was expected, and with a new coach and new system to learn, guys like Malik Williams, Darius Perry, and Jordan Nwora all reportedly considered transferring.

Shortly after the hiring of Chris Mack all players decided to return to the team. aside from Deng Adel & Ray Spalding, who both hired agents after declaring for the NBA draft. However, nearly two months later, a underclassman who initially was assumed to return has now had a change of thought.

As of this afternoon sophomore forward Lance Thomas has been granted a full release from the University of Louisville and will transfer for his final three remaining years of eligibility, according to Jody Demling and confirmed by Head Coach Chris Mack, and the UofL Men’s Basketball program.

As a freshman Lance Thomas averaged just 2.2 points, and 1.3 rebounds per game while playing in just 12 games. The 6’9, 210 pound forward was a three star recruit coming out of Norcross, Georgia and committed to the Cards over programs such as USC, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas Tech and plenty of others.

When he did finally get into games, you could quickly see why Thomas wasn’t playing. Though he was a big time recruit out of high school, Thomas’ game was still extremely raw. Whether it was picking up three or four quick fouls in a matter of minutes, or taking a bad shot at an inopportune time, Thomas had a far way to go to become a contributing role player for the Cards. But in the team’s blowout win against Bryant at the KFC Yum! Center, the fans who stuck around until the end (including myself) got to see what Thomas could be with the right development.

His back to the basket game was smooth. His ability to go up and get the ball on glass, both offensively and defensively, was phenomenal. But… It was all against Bryant.

Many fans will simply move on from this news in just a few weeks due to Thomas’ less than significant impact during his freshman season. Me personally, I’ll move on, but this news was extremely disappointing.

Losing Thomas will certainly hurt next season, as the Cards only have eight scholarship players returning for the 2018-19 season, with only Malik Williams, Dwayne Sutton, Steven Enoch, and Jordan Nwora playing in the front court. But it’s the other intangible things that Thomas brought to the team’s bench, and all-around chemistry that will be missed the most.

Last year I came to grow fond of the freshman forward not only for his energetic play on the floor but for his shenanigans on the bench; which appropriately deemed themselves the “Bench Mob.” While many won’t look at the great celebrations and wild reactions to big plays as more than fun, but I personally believe that the bench had a huge part in keeping the team’s spirit high. At the forefront of that was Lance Thomas.

Attending games put into perspective just how much the team loved each other. While the fans argued and debated the decision to move on from Rick Pitino as Head Coach, which ultimately ended up hurting attendance in the end and brought so much negativity to the program, the players grew closer and formed a bond that was invaluable. The bench was the heartbeat of the roster, and played a huge role in many of the team’s wins, as well as keeping the group together.

Next: Thanks Tom, An Open Letter to Tom Jurich

Usually a team relies on their upperclassman to be vocal leaders, but for the Louisville basketball team who lost their leader just weeks before practice began, finding that leader was more difficult than many imagined. The Cards did have two seniors, both of which were starters (majority of the time), who many believed would be the ones to rely on for strong leadership. But unfortunately for the team, both players were known to be quiet, and not willing to be the team’s vocal leaders, which only became clearer after Pitino was no longer on the sidelines.

https://twitter.com/Lancegreek/status/999023327984390144

In that void, the bench mob stepped up.

That group brought energy, passion, and pure fun to the floor. When things were tight, the bench loosened things out. You couldn’t help but fall in love with them when you watched. Their celebrations were wild. They never sat down. And whether it was a great play or after a tough stretch that resulted in a timeout, the mob literally ran to meet their teammates on the floor. It’s things like that-that you’ll never hear about from last year’s team.

Though Thomas didn’t get a chance to grow into the player that Rick Pitino believed he could be when he recruited the three star forward, what he ending up bringing  to the Cardinals was something they needed more than his skill on the floor. His energy was contagious, and majority of the time it infected the entire team.

Lance Thomas was one of my favorite players on a team that went through so many ups and downs, simply because what he brought to the team didn’t show up on stat sheets, or box scores. It didn’t show up in the highlights. But trust me when I say this.. It helped that team keep their bond tight, when in every minute played you felt like the team could be moments from falling apart.

Thank you my friend. Best of luck in your career, and I hope the next fan base understands and appreciates what you bring to the floor and of course, to the bench.