South Salem’s Khalid Thomas (left) is averaging 16 points and eight rebounds a game this season.
A year ago, Khalid Thomas was in an awkward situation.
For most of his life he was the best player whenever he stepped onto a basketball court.
But for the first time, Thomas was sitting on the bench of the South Salem High School boys basketball team with no hope of getting in a game.
The 6-foot-7, 190-pound junior is not only on the court for the No. 6-ranked Saxons now, but he has asserted himself this season as a dominant post presence by averaging 16 points per game on 54.8 percent shooting and eight rebounds a game.
“I think he’s been a lot more physical and more aggressive,” said senior Gabe Matthews. “I think he’s been attacking the rim and taking the shots he needs to take and he’s been able to get to the hoop easy.
“He’s been able to post up. He’s just kind of a versatile player in a sense, and it just helps him out a lot. He can do anything he wants on the court.”
But a year ago it was like he didn’t exist.
Transferring to South Salem from West Salem – where he played as a freshman – was difficult on its own, but he was academically ineligible for the first semester of his sophomore year.
That he missed the first half of the season showed significantly when he finally got on the court midway through the season.
He played an increasing role as his sophomore season progressed, but he never found his place.
“He came into an already established team, heavy on the senior class and we were guard oriented and he came in at 6-7, hadn’t played yet, senior-oriented team and he’s only a sophomore,” South Salem coach Tyler Allen said. “It wasn’t really a recipe for confidence building that year.
“He started against South Medford. Played very timid. Kind of played undersized although he was up there with the rest of the guys, and that was strictly confidence.”
If his past issues weren’t enough to motivate Thomas academically, last summer he got another reason to get his grades up.
Last summer he joined I-5 Elite for AAU basketball and while playing at a big tournament in California he was offered a scholarship to play basketball at Montana.
“That day I knew that as soon as I got back home it’s grades first,” Thomas said. “As soon as I got that offer I got serious. Ever since then that’s why I’m busting my butt in class and trying to get better.”
Though Thomas usually was the biggest player on all of his basketball teams growing up, he didn’t start out big.
Born six weeks premature with a collapsed lung, Thomas weighed four pounds, 14 ounces and was in an incubator for a time.
“To see him at 6-7 when he was itty-bitty like that, it’s a little bit of a shock,” said Thomas’ mother, Nikki. “He was going to be fine, he just had a little rough start.”
A basketball had been in Thomas’ hands pretty much since he was born, but becoming a physical presence on a basketball court is a new thing.
South Salem’s Khalid Thomas (20) is fouled by West Salem’s Jordan Lind (21) in the second half of the West Salem vs. South Salem boy’s basketball game at South Salem High School on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015. South Salem won the game 81- 61.
This fall, he played football for the first time.
Thomas was a wide receiver who didn’t play much at the beginning of the season, but had an increasing role as the season progressed.
When South Salem’s basketball team played Oregon City – the school to whom South Salem’s football team lost – Thomas scored 21 points and was a force.
“Last year I wouldn’t have gone through contact like that,” Thomas said. “This year, I enjoyed going through contact like that.”
Though Matthews, a four-year starter, is the unquestioned and vocal leader on the team, Thomas has made his mark.
With South Salem (13-2, 7-0 Greater Valley Conference) being post oriented with a starting lineup including the 6-3 Matthews and 6-11 Christian Russell, Thomas mostly plays the three spot and has a better outside shot than you might suspect – he is shooting 38 percent from 3-point range in limited attempts.
But his impact is most felt in the paint.
Few players have been able to consistently beat him out for rebounds.
“I knew he could rebound, he had great timing, but at the beginning of the season he wasn’t rebounding as I knew he was capable of,” Allen said. “He’s not just rebounding now, he’s getting rebounds he has no business getting. He’s rebounding like a man.
“He just sets the tone for the possession. And then when he gets it in the offensive flow, he puts forth the effort to get that possession. He’s been fun to watch. I have to remind myself that he’s only a junior. He’s got a huge upside.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler