I was born in Schenectady New York, a town near the capital of the state which is Albany. This guy is from RIGHT near where I grew up, he was well known here but dropped off the radar in his stint in Texas and then went undrafted. He is in fact a beast, I am not sure how well his game will translate to the NBA level but he can bang a bit for them at the very least. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The eyes of Texas once again are upon Schenectady's James Thomas. Thomas, an undrafted rookie forward from the University of Texas, on Wednesday was scheduled to sign a two-year, free-agent contract with the San Antonio Spurs. His mother, Rachel, said Thomas flew to San Antonio on Wednesday morning to finalize the deal with the Spurs, who won the NBA title two years ago. "It's a dream come true for him," she said. "Like his whole career and his whole life, it didn't come with the door wide open. He had to kick it down." Spurs spokesman Tom James said Wednesday afternoon that "we haven't signed (Thomas), but I think we are close." The deal still hadn't been announced at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The 6-foot-8 Thomas played for the Portland Trail Blazers' entry in an NBA summer league in Utah and finished second in rebounding with a 7.6 average. Thomas chose the Spurs because they offered him partially guaranteed money in the first year of the contract with a club option for the second year, according to Jim Hart, his former Amateur Athletic Union coach. Hart said such an offer is "very rare" for an undrafted rookie. He is not guaranteed a roster spot when the regular season opens against Sacramento on Nov. 3. He still must earn his way on to the Spurs' 15-man roster. Only 12 players dress for games. Efforts were unsuccessful to reach Thomas or his agent, Joel Bell. Thomas had a disappointing senior year, marred by a bad back and a strained relationship with Texas coach Rick Barnes. He averaged 5.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. However, he is the Longhorns' career leader with 1,077 rebounds. Hart said the Spurs last month invited Thomas to come down to San Antonio to scrimmmage with their players, including point guard Tony Parker and star center Tim Duncan. Then the team doctor gave him a physical, apparently to check out the condition of his back. Last year, Thomas had three herniated discs, which he said healed on their own. The Spurs open their training camp on Tuesday, and play their preseason opener against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 16. Rachel Thomas has seen her son play at the Garden before with Texas, but will see him in an NBA uniform for the first time. "I will be there with bells on," she said. "He knows he's got a lot of work to do. He has several steps to go, but this is just another hurdle. I do believe that he's ready." Rachel Thomas said returning to Texas isn't a big deal for her son. "He didn't care where he went," she said. "He just wanted to play NBA ball. If they sent him anywhere, he'd be happy." Albany's Lionel Chalmers, a second-round draft choice and high school rival of Thomas, is beginning his rookie year with the Los Angeles Clippers.</div> Source: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story...?storyID=290403
If Thomas can just polish his skills he could easily become an Ben Wallace type player. He failed to meet expectations sadly his senior year. That's why he wasn't drafted IMO. This is a good move by the Spurs, their team is good enough to take chances.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">He failed to meet expectations sadly his senior year.</div>He didn't play at all in his senior because of an injury, so you can't really blame him for that. He is now fully recovered and hopefully, Thomas can show the league what he can do with the Spurs.
