It feels like every football player had hoop dreams, and every basketball player had football dreams. Few are given the choice.
Brian Thomas Jr. was.
He could have made those hoop dreams a reality. Instead, playing football for those three letters was more important to him.
A superstar on the field and on the court, Thomas emerged from Walker (La.) High School, just outside of Baton Rouge, a highly touted recruit in both sports. High school football had to wait a year, per his father’s request to get stronger before he went out on the gridiron. Basketball was his only focus during his freshman year, but Thomas wanted to get back to feeling most like himself, and that was by playing both sports.
In football, Thomas was a four-star recruit and selected to participate in the 2021 Adidas All-American Bowl. On the court, Thomas scored over 1,000 points in each of his three seasons of basketball and was named the Most Outstanding Player of his team’s state championship game. While every one of his current teammates would try to argue they can hoop better than Thomas, the Division I college basketball offers he received certainly suggest otherwise.
It is hard to imagine someone being that good at two sports, but that’s Thomas. This season has proven to be his loudest, but the work and the talent have always been there.
“In my (LSU) freshman year, B.T. was out there always killing it,” fellow junior wide receiver Malik Nabers said. “I was trying to keep up with him. He was my competition. I needed to stay close to B.T. It was like me and him competing, and it’s still me and him competing when we go against other players.”
Nabers seemed to be quarterback Jayden Daniels’ favorite target last season, but this year, Nabers and Thomas are sharing the spotlight almost evenly. Thomas has three 100-plus-yard receiving games and nine total touchdowns, while Nabers has one 200-plus-yard game, three 100-plus-yard games and six total touchdowns thus far.
“They make plays; they make tough, contested catches,” Daniels said of Nabers and Thomas. “In man-to-man coverage, they want the ball. Just give them a chance to make a play, and nine times out of 10 they’re going to make it. I’m blessed to be able to play with them.”
LSU’s offensive success in 2023 stems from the chemistry between these three elite players, and none of it would have been possible if Thomas had not chosen to follow his heart years ago.
“Football, to me, is bigger than a sport,” Thomas said. “It’s something that I love to do, and it’s been there for me. If I’m going through something, going out to practice, I get to clear my mind. I’ve always loved football the most.”
Although his dad loves basketball more than anything else, Thomas’ parents never wanted anything less than the best for their son. Since he was five years old, Thomas has been translating dribble moves to releases, and his continuous growth process allows him to now be one of head coach Brian Kelly’s most dependable players.
“You can see his maturation process and reliability on and off the field,” Kelly said of Thomas. “We knew this year that he was going to be a guy that we could count on. We just feel like he’s doing everything the right way. And because of it, it translates on the football field.”
Behind the flashy touchdown receptions and end zone dances is a kid who loves his parents, so much that he feels like he owes them the world. He plays the guitar and listens to Youngboy, Lil Baby and NoCap, just like so many other 20-somethings.
Thomas is the perfect example of what gets lost in successful athletes: they really are just people. They love the game fiercely and work tirelessly to make their loved ones proud. But when the lights go out, they are just humans. However, whether you are a professional athlete or the CEO of a major corporation, what separates the sensational from the regular is the insatiable desire to be the best, coupled with the ability to block out both the celebrators and the destroyers.
“As long as I go out there and give it my all, I feel like I’ve accomplished something,” Thomas said of managing the pressure. “I want the LSU fans to remember me as one of the best to come through the program. One of the Ja’Marr’s (Chase), Justin’s (Jefferson), Odell’s (Beckham Jr.). I still have a lot of proving to do to be able to be recognized as some of those players.”
Now, Thomas has a choice, once again.
Will he settle and accept what he has already done, or strive to be legendary?
For a kid who could have had either dream, he already chose legendary.
Before we know it, Thomas will be saying his own name with the three he just listed, all because of the choice to pursue what he loves most.