Sporting a 7-foot-4 wing span with a solid 6-7, 305- pound frame behind it, Courtney Thomas was thinking of a basketball scholarship in his future as a strong possibility.

The former John Tyler-transfer, Courtney has lived out a dream, that not he nor anyone else could see coming, signing a track scholarship at Stephen F. Austin University this last week, at The Brook Hill School’s Kyle Lake Athletic Centers Founders Suite.

Out of the blue, Thomas won the Division III state shotput title, and placed second in the discus. His shot put win was the top throw among all TAPPS qualifiers for state.

“My dream was to always go to college for basketball,” said the gentle giant, and TAPPS Thomas. “But I will have just as much fun doing track.”

Coming to Brook Hill as a junior last year, his size alone was destined to help The Guard to the school’s first Final Four appearance. He made the all-district team, but it was the upstart track program led by head coach Dave Vinson, that Thomas found his new love.

(Banner Staff Photos by Paul Dickey) It was not as though Thomas had never played a sport, however it sounds, at times. Thomas overcame an early childhood setback, which he took on as a challenge later on.

“I started playing sports in the seventh-grade, but I just played basketball,” said the new Nacogdoches Lumberjack.

“I had my first surgery when I was three, and I had my second surgery at the end of eighth-grade, which led to me not playing as a freshman at John Tyler.

After a year of frustration in the Lions program, Thomas made a move that he will never regret.

“Brook Hill has prepared me for college in so many ways,” Thomas said. “In the classroom it’s helped so much by them making me aware of what to expect in a college classroom.

“People look at Brook Hill as a non-competitve private school that can’t compete at certain levels,” said a smiling Thomas, “but I think we have showed people that we can compete with anyone that steps on our court, field, or track.”

Thomas being the third D-I signee this year , alone proves the prominence the school is attaining in recruiting circles. Other offers for Thomas came from Oklahoma, Nebraska, Abilene Christian, Angelo State, and California among the other top offers.

Through all the surgeries, the physical rehabilitation, trips to specialists, and games, his mom has been his biggest supporter, and as Thomas put it, ‘his personal coach.’

“My mother has been the most supportive and behind me in everything that we have been through,” said the gentle giant, as Thomas teared up a bit. “She’s been through a lot, but she is still and will always be my personal coach!”

When asked to look back on his days at Brook Hill thus far, Thomas again replied with genuine heart-felt appreciation.

“Brook Hill has made my life inside the classroom, on the court or field, and even outside of school, so much better for me as a young man,” Thomas began in conclusion. “And I will never in a million years forget where I came from.

“I appreciate everything that Coach Vinson (Brook Hill second-year head track coach) has done for me. He’s a good man for what he does, and I will never forget him, as well.”

Vinson said that SFA head track and field coach, Phil Olson, who also coaches throwers, said it was one of the few full scholarships he’s given to a thrower

“(Olson) was very impressed with his character, and that Courtney’s such a positive guy,” said Vinson, a SFA graduate.

Thomas plans to major in and earn his degree in accounting, while chunking the weights around.