BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Jimmy Thomas coached the Union County High School boys basketball program to a number of championships, including two at the regional level that propelled the 1975 and 1994 teams to the Final Four, so it seemed only fitting that the basketball court be named after the program’s all-time winningest coach.
Coach Jimmy Thomas Court was dedicated during a June 9 ceremony in which Thomas was surrounded by family, friends and former players.
“Tonight, we gather to dedicate this basketball court to a man who has given much over the years in the pursuit of building boys into young men through the game of basketball,” Superintendent of Schools Mike Ripplinger said.
Alving Merriex, the current UCHS head coach, and Artha “Rerun” Reeves, who played on Thomas’ 1994 Final Four team, lifted the cloth to reveal the name of the court underneath, with Thomas’ name being a replica of his signature.
“If you ask me, it’s probably about 12 years too late, but we’re here now,” said Reeves, who graduated from UCHS in 1996.
Thomas, who went 278-224 during three different stints at UCHS and has more than 400 career wins, thanked everyone for being in attendance and talked about how special Union County is to him.
“You don’t know what it means to me,” Thomas said. “It’s a great place. You people, you players, faculty and staff, our cheerleaders and our students — everybody has made this a great place. One of the best places in my lifetime.”
Thomas, a 1965 UCHS graduate who was a standout athlete (he went on to play football at the University of Tennessee), added, “I’m so honored by all this.”
A special moment was even more so because of the fact the UCHS gym is already named after T.S. Thomas — Thomas’ grandfather who served 36 years as Union superintendent of schools.
Current Superintendent Mike Ripplinger said it was fitting considering the “many years of dedication and service to Union County” given by Thomas and his grandfather, adding that it was an example of how much the Thomas family loves Union County and its people.
Thomas coaching stints at UCHS were 1972-78, 1988-94 and 2019-22. When Thomas returned for the third time, Ripplinger said he asked one of the players how things were going with the new coach. The response was, “Mr. Rip, I’ve never worked so hard in my life.”
“For those who played for Coach, they understand more than the rest of us how competitive he is and how he wanted his players to be the best they could be,” Ripplinger said. “He did not like mediocrity and wanted his teams to compete and play like champions each time they hit the floor.”
Thomas also had coaching stops at Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Dunnellon, Keystone Heights and Lecanto.
When Thomas went to Citrus (in Inverness), the program hadn’t had a winning season in 10 years.
“Needless to say, that trend was not acceptable,” Ripplinger said. “After taking over the program, he turned it around, and over a stretch of six seasons, they won 98 games, two district championships and advanced to the regional finals. They won three conference championships, and in a two-year period totaled 49 wins, with only six losses.”
One of Thomas’ Citrus teams went 26-3, which is the best season in program history.
During the coach’s final stint at UCHS, Ripplinger said he observed how Thomas was doing more than teaching his players the game of basketball. He said the coach was preparing them for the game of life.
Reeves agreed with that, saying the most important things he learned from Thomas was to be committed and to give your best effort. During tough times in his life, Reeves said he could hear Thomas’ voice in his head, saying, “Keep going. Don’t stop.”
He passes on the same advice and lessons he received from Thomas to his children, Reeves said.
“All I can say to you is without you, I wouldn’t be who I am today,” Reeves said. “I wouldn’t be where I’m at today.”
Merriex had family members who played for Thomas, so he knew what Thomas was like as a coach before he joined his staff as an assistant.
“Even if you didn’t touch the floor, it was still expected of you to give all you had,” Merriex said.
Merriex had joined the coaching ranks, working with the UCHS girls program. He admitted his passion for coaching was in a decline when he stepped down and decided to focus solely on his son and his athletic pursuits.
Then, when Thomas returned to UCHS for his third stint, he asked Merriex if he’d like to be his assistant coach. Merriex said he didn’t hesitate to say yes. In his mind, he had always viewed Thomas as “the coach god.” It was his opportunity to learn from the best. He even told his wife that he was going to forget everything he knew about basketball and take in everything he could from Thomas.
When the two men met to go over the expectations of the assistant coach, Merriex was ready to pick Thomas’ brain about the Xs and Os of the game. He asked Thomas the key to being a successful coach. Thomas’ answer had nothing to do with the sport: “Whatever you do, keep your family involved. The most important thing you can ever do is not lose your family to sports. Your family is the most important thing.”
Merriex said Thomas did give him some coaching advice, but it had nothing to do with great plays he had drawn up on the sideline during his long career. Thomas told Merriex, “Learn how to connect with your players. They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Make sure that they know that you love them and that you’re in this for the right reason.”
Another bit of advice Merriex said he received from Thomas was to simplify the game.
Merriex said when he was given the opportunity to take over as head coach when Thomas stepped down, he told Thomas that he had big shoes to fill. He said Thomas told him, “Don’t try to fill my shoes. Walk in your own shoes. Be you. Be the best you that you can be.”
“I appreciate you, Coach. It’s such a great honor to walk and come behind you,” Merriex said.
Reliving memories
After the court’s new name was unveiled, Thomas took his turn to say a few words. He said what was characteristic of all the teams he coached was the players’ willingness to buy into what he was asking of them.
Thomas said that what also stood out about most of his teams was that they consisted of multiple players who could end up being the leading scorer on any given night. That was a good thing for a coach who believed in team unity and that every player was important.
“Everybody is a part of the team. Everybody contributes. Everybody is important,” Thomas said.
In Thomas’ second season during his first stint at UCHS, the Tigers went 20-6, winning their first district title in 10 years. Union fell one game shy of advancing to the Final Four, losing 57-56 to Hawthorne in the Region 2-2A final.
“That was a really great ball club,” Thomas said.
The 1975 team was only 1-4 at the Christmas break. Thomas said he lost a lot of players from the 1974 team and believed he was moving too fast with the ’75 team.
“I think with that group, I really was going too fast putting things in,” Thomas said. “We stopped, and we went through everything again.”
Union went on to win 18 of its next 22 games. The Tigers won their second straight district title as well as the Region 2 championship, defeating Flagler Palm Coast 68-61 to go to the Final Four.
The team that awaited the Tigers in the state semifinals was a Lake Weir team that was 32-0, ranked number one in the state and was nationally ranked as well. Thomas recalled how a coach said to him that the Region 2 final didn’t matter because the winner was only going to go on to lose to Lake Weir in the state semifinals. Thomas said he asked the coach if he had ever been to the Final Four. After the coach said he hadn’t, Thomas said, “Me either, but I want to go.”
Union faced a Lake Weir team that had players who were 6-8, 6-6 and 6-5. Lake Weir had two guards who eventually played professionally.
The Tigers’ Joe Maxwell, who would normally be a guard, played center that year since he was the team’s tallest player. He was 6-1 or 6-2.
Thomas said he gave his team two choices: They could try to slow the game down or play their normal game, which got to them to that point, and “see what happens.”
It wound up being a 99-63 loss for the Tigers. Thomas quipped that his team did slow the ball down at the end to keep Lake Weir from reaching 100.
Still, from a 1-4 start to the Final Four equated to a special season.
“They had the biggest hearts,” Thomas said. “They played so well together and worked like a dog.”
Thomas guided the Tigers to the Final Four again during the final season in his second stint at UCHS. He said two seasons prior to that postseason run, he had a team composed of just one senior, four sophomores and one freshman. That 1991-92 team went 6-20, but improved to 17-11 in the following season.
Then, came the best record in school history as the 1993-94 team went 27-8, defeating Clay 66-52 to win a district title and defeating P.K. Yonge 52-44 for a regional championship and a trip to the Final Four. The Tigers lost 78-57 in the state semifinals.
“That team had five players average double figures (in scoring),” Thomas said. “We had some come off the bench and score eight or nine. We could score, but we played really, really great defense.”
Thomas said he had the blessing of coaching his son David on that team. He also mentioned such players as Reeves, Kia Bethea, Darren DeLoach, Maurice Griffin and Andrew Zow. Thomas said Griffin “might be the best guard who’s ever come through here,” despite being small in stature.
Thomas’ third stint began with an 11-10 record in 2018-19, followed by a 2-22 record in 2019-20. Thomas said the Tigers struggled with various issues in that two-win season.
“It’s hard,” he said of coaching a team during a losing season. “It’s also sad when you see the kids giving everything, and they just can’t pull it off.”
The Tigers bounced back in 2020-21, taking a 12-6 record into the district tournament. The team entered that tournament having dealt with late-season COVID issues among players. Union lost 73-62 to Trenton.
“We got down by 20 points and cut it to one,” Thomas said. “We ended up losing. We kind of ran out of gas.”
During Thomas’ final season, Union got off to a rough start, but then won six straight before losing in the first round of the district tournament to finish 11-12. Thomas said the six-game winning streak included a win over an Inerlachen team that had won 10 straight and a win over Middleburg in which the Tigers held the Broncos to two points in the third quarter and no baskets in the fourth quarter.
His third stint also included the opportunity to coach Corey Hill, who already was a good offensive player before also becoming a great defensive player. The 2019 graduate was selected to play in the North-South All-Star game — the first UCHS player to do so in 25 years.
In closing Thomas again expressed how much it meant for him to see those who attended the ceremony in his honor.
“I appreciate each and every one of you for coming and some of you for making a long trip,” he said. “Thanks for being here.”
