Tre'Shawn Thurman has stepped up at Omaha Central as the go-to scorer, and he's hoping to keep his team in the running for a state title.
Photo by Jim Redman
Overshadowed by a deep and talented senior class a year ago,
Omaha Central (Neb.) forward
Tre'Shawn Thurman's ability to score from anywhere on the floor was put on hold during the Eagles' latest Nebraska Class A state championship run.
Graduation losses that accounted for 90 percent of Omaha Central's scoring during the 2013 Nebraska state basketball tournament have cleared the air and given Thurman the green light to go for broke on offense in 2013-14.
Thurman is now a leader in the Omaha Centralprogram, and hopes to make younger players better.
Photo by Jim Redman
"I definitely need to be more aggressive," Thurman said. "I kind of took a back seat because of all the talent we had last year. I did whatever was asked of me. Now I have to be on the attack. I have to be willing to get better every day. I can't take a step back, or the whole team will take a step back."
Eagles coach Eric Behrens has always known of Thurman's offensive abilities. His challenge, now, is to take full advantage of Thurman's arsenal.
"I'm just learning how to use him as far as being the go-to guy," Behrens said. "I'm trying to utilize his skills and his ability to score in as many spots on the court as possible. We had five guys score 10-12 points a game last year. This year we need Tre'Shawn to carry the load."
To this point in the season, Behrens seems to be pulling all the right strings when it comes to the 6-foot-7 Thurman, who has received pitches to play beyond high school from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota, Utah State, Fairfield, James Madison, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Duquesne and Florida International.
Behrens said Thurman's ability to make shots and his overall skill level, especially at his size, make him a legitimate Division I player.
"His biggest asset is his natural athletic ability," Behrens said. "He shoots the ball well. He handles the ball well. And he passes the ball well. His skill level is a tough matchup when you consider he is 6-6, 6-7. He has the ability to create space to get his shot off and then the soft touch to make those shots. He pivots well in picks and he has a nice turnaround jumper."
Through six games this season, Thurman is averaging 20.7 points and 7.3 rebounds a game after his 30-point, nine-rebound outburst in a 74-49 win over Omaha Northwest last Friday. His scoring line included a pair of 3-pointers and 12 of 18 shooting from the field.
Maybe it's the joy he receives in winning, or the ire he feels following an Eagles loss that has Thurman, Behrens' lone returning starter, playing at such a high level. Regardless, Thurman and Omaha Central are off to a 5-1 start, with the only blemish being a 64-59 setback to top-ranked Omaha Benson.
"One thing I can't stand is losing," Thurman said. "Winning championships brings me great joy. When that buzzer sounds and you've just won the game – there isn't a feeling like that. I hate losing. I hate losing my shoes. I hate losing my keys. And I hate losing my wallet. The reason I'm at Omaha Central is to win championships. I want to add to the legacy at Omaha Central of winning championships."
According to Thurman, much of Omaha Central's success, which includes nine state tournament appearances in the last 10 seasons and seven championship wins in eight years, can be attributed to talented Eagles players making the next line of players better.
Thurman and Central performed well last seasonagainst some of the nation's best.
Photo by Jim Redman
As Thurman, sees it, no other program in the state faces the daily rigors that a Behrens-coached club does.
"The guys on these other teams played against guys like Akoy (Agau) and Tra-Deon (Hollins) once, maybe twice a year," Thurman said. "We played against them every day in practice. Practicing against those guys made us better. It had to. Then when we played against these other teams – it almost seemed easy. We learned how to get to the basket against Tra-Deon and how to shoot over a 6-10 player in Akoy."
Omaha Central, which finished the 2012-13 season ranked No. 8 in MaxPreps' computer rankings, rode its championship reputation to an invitation to play in the prestigious City of Palms Basketball Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., last season.
Once there the Eagles soundly defeated Eagle's Landing (Ga.), MaxPreps' 133rd-ranked team at season's end, and then lost to No. 18 Long Beach Poly (Calif.) and No. 11 Whitney Young (Chicago) by a combined six points.
It was during the three-point loss to Whitney Young that Thurman encountered the toughest player he said he'd faced during his prep career in 6-10, 270-pound Jahlil Okafor, a Duke recruit and the No. 6-ranked player in 247Sports.com's Class of 2014.
Okafor scored 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the City of Palms fifth-place consolation bracket win over the Eagles, while Thurman scored 13 points and grabbed five boards.
Last February, Omaha Central knocked off one of the true prep basketball powers nationally in No. 70 Oak Hill Academy, 70-63 at the Heartland Hoops Classic in Grand Island. If anything, the contest served as an opportunity to go out, have fun and knock off a top-notch opponent.
"We had a lot of fun against Oak Hill. What a great opportunity," Thurman said. "Other players and coaches weren't giving us much of a chance. Word was we would probably lose by about 20 points or something like that. We proved we could play with those guys and there aren't very many better basketball teams. We played with a lot of heart."
That win helped boost an already confident Central squad through another strong Class A field and into a fourth-straight Nebraska big school state championship with convincing wins over Papillion-La Vista South (61-41), Omaha Benson (80-50) and Papillion-La Vista (69-44).
After sharing in the joy of claiming one more Omaha Central state championship a year ago, Thurman and this class of Eagles seniors aren't ready to hand the championship baton over to any other Nebraska program.
"These guys want to win. Sure we were all a part of championship teams in the past, but we want to win one for ourselves. It's our time now," Thurman said. "We want to win a championship and we want to do it together."
