Top-10 2013 Recruit Leaves HS for Junior College

The last few years we’ve witnessed top ranked high school players leave school early for overseas pro contracts and even graduating early to join Division I programs. But now a new trend may be on the way. Chris Thomas, a nationally renowned recruit, who as of last week was ranked 7th in our mid-season rankings for the Class of 2013, will be bypassing the remaining of his junior year and entire senior year, and instead has enrolled at Chipola College– a junior college in Marianna, Florida. He was once a member of the class of 2012 before reclassifying. The 6-5 wing has drawn interest from numerous high-major collegiate programs. Did he make the right choice by leaving high school early for JUCO? Only time will tell. From NBC Sports:

“It’s not hyperbole to say that 6-5 guard Chris Thomas is one of the largest basketball talents to come out of Denver, Colo., in at least a decade. The lengthy athlete has unbelievable bounce, a flair for making a remarkable play, and a defense-stretching long-range shooting ability. Thomas is all but unstoppable in transition due to his fiery burst. All of those traits put Thomas, a high school junior as of last week, as comfortably among the top-10 most talented players in the 2013 class.

The flip side of Thomas was that he never actually showcased his talents in the Mile High City as a high schooler, as he attended but never played at Montbello (Colo.) as the first of several stops prior to his recent decision. His route, in terms of schools attended, includes stops in Maryland and Arizona, until he arrived at South Kent School (Conn.) at the start of this school year. Also, Thomas may have led last summer’s circuit in technical fouls and verbal outbursts during games, if such statistics were ever kept.

After reports went out last week that Thomas had left South Kent School, he was expected to turn up at a prep school in North Carolina. That didn’t happen, and now Thomas has left high school basketball and enrolled at Chipola JC (Fla.), a strong junior college basketball program. Thomas was a member of the 2012 class prior to reclassifying to the 2013 class, so the move isn’t as drastic as it may sound. Then again, with a mid-year enrollee, Jarnell Stokes, excelling for Tennessee, this has clearly been an interesting and in some ways unprecedented time in the world of college basketball recruiting.”