July 17, 2007 - Eye-opening summer for Thompson / By: Mark Eckel
Eye-opening summer for Thompson
LAWRENCE -- The question is no longer whether Jason Thompson will be the first Rider University basketball player drafted into the NBA.
It's just how high will Thomp son, the 6-foot-11, 260-pound Broncs center be drafted.
Second-round?
First-round?
Mid first-round?
Dare we think lottery pick?
Thompson has spent this summer getting bigger physically -- he ended last season around 235 pounds -- and nationally.
"It's always been a dream of mine to get drafted and play in the NBA," Thompson said last week. "Now it's nice to know after all the hard work I've done the past few years it pays off. I'm starting to see that dream might turn into a reality."
NBA scouts and decision-makers saw Thompson this summer at two of LeBron James' all-star camps in Akron, Ohio, and at Amare Stoudemire's camp in Phoenix.
At all three of those camps Thompson went up against some of the best college players in the country -- Chris Douglas-Roberts of Memphis, Drew Neitzel of Michigan State, Scottie Reynolds of Villanova, 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet of UConn, Alex Maric of Nebraska, Shaun Pruitt of Illinois and Othello Hunter of Ohio State.
Near the end of James' camp, Thompson made his name when he defended the Cavaliers' superstar, and did better than a lot of current NBA players.
Of course, James did what James does, but Thompson made him work, and also scored over him a few times.
"Nobody wanted to guard him, so I said I would," Thompson said. "It was fun. I went to the camps to take on the best to see how I would do."
He did very well, to say the least.
"I thought I held my own pretty well," Thompson said. "Then when a couple of scouts came up to me and told me they thought I did more than that, well, that makes you feel pretty good."
The scouts, some of whom barely had heard of Rider before seeing Thompson this summer, will be flocking to Alumni Gym this winter and are sure to follow the big man's senior season up close and personal.
Last winter, those same NBA people found their way to Marist to watch point guard Jared Jordan, who became the 45th overall pick of last month's draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.
If the NBA can find the way to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for a 6-2 point guard who people think can be a John Stockton- type, they'll have no problem seek ing out the new Shaq of the MAAC.
"I was at the Stoudemire camp the night of the draft," Thompson said. "But I watched it. I wanted to see where Jordan went. You heard he might go here, he might go there, I guess he went the middle of the second round. That gives me even more motivation."
Rider, which hasn't been to an NCAA Tournament since 1994 and had one of the school's worst years ever two years ago, should be very motivated this winter.
Thompson, who enters his senior season with 1,346 points and 759 rebounds, has a chance to be the school's first 2,000/1,000 player, and has an outside shot to be the school's all-time leader in both categories (he only needs 115 rebounds to match Chuck Simon, but needs 873 points to catch Darrick Suber).
Head coach Tommy Dempsey has surrounded Thompson with a very good supporting cast, including Ryan Thompson, Jason's brother, who could have a big year as well. Four starters return and the incoming freshman class had two prize point guards in Justin Robinson and Matt Griffin, plus a highly recruited forward in Mike Ringgold.
"I'm looking forward to this season. We're going to be good," Thompson said. "I know we're going to have a good season. There's no more excuses. Our expectations should be through the roof. We need to win the league and go back to the NCAAs."
The Broncs' showcase event and Thompson's next coming out party will be the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla., over Thanksgiving weekend.
In the opener, Rider meets North Carolina State. Other teams involved are Kansas State, South Carolina, Villanova, George Mason, Penn State and Central Florida.
"It's definitely going to give us some national exposure, and not just for me, but for the whole team, the whole school," Thompson said. "It should be fun."
If it's in Disney World, it has to be fun. And isn't that the place where dreams come true?
Contact Times staff columnist Mark Eckel at meckel@njtimes.com.
