Arvada West's Thomas Neff is off to a strong start to his senior season, averaging 27.6 points through the first seven games. Neff has committed to play at the University of Denver.
File photo by Carl Auer
When
Thomas Neff burst onto the prep basketball scene as a freshman four years ago with
Arvada West, he admits his game was a bit one-dimensional.
Neff played in 23 of the team's 24 games that year and averaged 10.7 points per game. But of the 73 shots he knocked down, 61 came from behind the 3-point line.
"I was a spot-up shooter-type player," Neff recalled. "I would just camp out on the wing and wait for open shots. I don't think I made a 2-pointer until like seven or eight games into the season."
Neff made it his mission to add a little bit more to his repertoire each year, and that hard work is paying dividends. The 6-foot-5 senior, who has already committed to the University of Denver, is averaging 27.6 points through the team's first seven games this season and is second on the squad with 6.7 rebounds per game.
As his overall game has improved and his numbers have climbed – Neff averaged 18.9 and 19.4 points over the previous two seasons – so has Arvada West's victory total. The Wildcats went from six wins in Neff's freshman campaign to 29 during the last two seasons.
"He's such a versatile player. I have not coached a player who is as explosive offensively as he is," Wildcats coach Jeff Parriott said. "For about two-and-a-half years he was a terrific perimeter player. He shoots it so well, but he's added an inside element to his game that makes him just really hard to guard."
Neff, his younger brother
Luke Neff and senior
Jesse Porter have combined to make Arvada West a dangerous offensive threat. Luke Neff is averaging 11 points and 4.1 assists per game, and Porter is right behind at 10.9 points. Thomas Neff said junior
Will Wittman has caught opponents off guard with his deceptiveness, leading the Wildcats with 7.4 rebounds a game despite only being 6-1.
The team's record may only be 4-3, but those three losses came to squads with a current combined mark of 15-4. Arvada West will likely be even more of a force when
Dallas Walton returns from injury later in the season. The 6-foot-11 transfer from Ralston Valley (Arvada) tore his ACL in June, and Parriott hopes Walton will be back by mid- to late January.
"That's total conjecture, though," he said. "That thing is going to heal on its own. The one thing we want to be careful is not to hurry it."
Walton's return would add another dimension to Arvada West's offense, but would also be a big boost to its defensive presence. Parriott admits that his squad needs to improve in that department.
"I think if this team wants to be any good late in the year we have to find a way to be better defensively," he said. "I think all coaches say that, but that is particularly true of this team. We're giving up too many points and we have not been as efficient defensively as we need to be."
As the Wildcats progress in that area, scoring points in bunches will help keep them in games. A-West is averaging 62.1 points a game thus far, and Neff has scored at least 30 points in five of the team's first seven contests.
The shooting guard took care of his future during the summer, committing to the Pioneers. He joins
Chaparral (Parker) forward
Jake Holtzmann, who has also verbally committed to DU.
"I've gone to their camps since I was little and I've gotten to know the coaches pretty well," Neff said. "At first I kind of wanted to go out of state, but then I thought about it and I thought it would be really cool to play in the town I grew up in and have people I know come and watch me play."
But before that can happen, there is plenty of season left for the Wildcats, who have not won the Class 5A Jeffco League since the 2010-11 season. The team advanced to the Sweet 16 that year but hasn't made it past the second round since.
"It's everything I've really dreamed of since I was a little kid. I've always want to go play at CU-Boulder and just make a deep run in the playoffs," Neff said. "This is the last year I get to play in high school with my brother, and that means a lot to me to get to play with him. I really want to make this year a great one to remember."
