Thomas gives IU more post presence

IU is down by one point.\nOne-and-two-tenths seconds remain in overtime.\nJunior forward DeAndre Thomas is on the line about to shoot two free throws.\nAfter a couple of dribbles, Thomas calmly sinks the first free throw. One shot remains to give the Hoosiers the victory.\nHowever, on the second free throw, Thomas faces a challenge he has never seen on the basketball court.\nAssistant coach Dan Dakich runs up, shaking his arms at Thomas as the forward’s second free throw rims out – IU must now win the game in double overtime.\nThankfully for Hoosier fans, Dakich has not lost his mind, running out onto the court during a crucial moment of an important game. This situation instead happened in an individual workout before Wednesday’s practice (Thomas won the game from the line in “double-overtime”).\nBy now, it has been well-documented that Thomas put in hours of work during the summer to get his weight below 300 pounds. While the team was impressed by that feat’s implications for the future success of Hoosiers, senior forward D.J. White said Thomas has to keep up his hard work outside of practice.\n“He knows that’s something he has to work on to help this team if he wants to play longer and help us out,” White said. “He’s working on it every day, coming in early and working on the treadmill.”\nThomas, a junior-college transfer, had a solid debut in the cream and crimson, tallying 11 points and three rebounds in 22 minutes of action. Thomas played extended minutes to start the second half. Earlier in the season, Sampson said he expected Thomas to be most effective in four-to-five-minute stretches. \n“I was wrong,” Sampson said. “You can print that.”\nLast season, White was the Hoosiers’ only pure post player. Adding Thomas into the mix allows Sampson to rest White or play the two together, depending on the matchup.\n“DeAndre allows you to play with D.J.,” Sampson said. “I don’t know if he could have done that two weeks ago or three weeks ago, but that’s been part of our plan.”\nWhite said he can notice a difference this season with Thomas on the team, adding another dimension to the offense.\n“(He) frees me up, frees the guards up,” White said. “Teams just can’t focus on one post player, because he’s good around the basket. It does a lot for our offense.”\nAlthough Thomas is not very tall for a post player, Sampson said his width makes up for that. \n“A couple of those kids blocked his shot,” Sampson said. “But he battled, got it and laid it in.”\nFans may have been surprised by the impact Thomas had in the opener, but White said the team knew Thomas could contribute right away for the Hoosiers.\n“It doesn’t surprise me,” White said. “I see him every day in practice. It may surprise a lot of other people, but it doesn’t surprise us.”