Windy City Bulls’ Thomas endures bumpy past, keeps focus forward

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ERIE, PA - NOVEMBER 12: Aaron Thomas drives past Michael Lyons of the Erie BayHawks earlier this month. (Photo courtesy of the Windy City Bulls).

Aaron Thomas admits there have been times when he has been tempted to walk away and surrender to the harsh reality that comes with bad decision-making.

But in the difficult moments that came after the Windy City Bulls rookie guard was dismissed from Florida State’s program in 2014 for violating team rules, Thomas contemplated his future, wafting back between two options.

Inevitably, only one made sense.

“A lot of things go through your mind once you put yourself in situations,” Thomas said. “It’s on you to either tough it out, face reality and stick with it or just give up and quit. I’m not a quitter.”

The 6-5 guard declined to specify exactly what led to his dismissal from Florida State, where he was averaging 14.8 points per game before he suspended five games into his junior year. He acknowledged the issue was a “big problem” – one that he had to accept full responsibility for rather than to point fingers.

While dealing with “being smacked in the face by reality”, Thomas saw many he considered close friends choose to walk away. That forced him to rely on himself to see his way through.

“It was a huge bump in the road,” Thomas said. “I just stuck with the process. I definitely felt like if I kept proving that I wasn’t that kind of guy, doors were going to open.”

Thomas played eight games in a German pro league last season before joining the Brooklyn Nets summer league team. But after appearing in a reserve role in just two games, Thomas turned his attention to the NBA Development League, hoping for a chance.

The expansion Windy City Bulls were searching for a scorer who could stretch opposing defenses with his shooting ability. The more they studied Thomas’ game, the more they discovered that he checked a lot of their boxes. That made Thomas a logical choice for Windy City’s first-round pick (12th overall), which provided Thomas with the opportunity he wasn’t sure would ever come.

Given the way his time at Florida State had ended, Thomas committed himself to prove himself – not only on the court, but off it as well.

“A lot of people threw in the towel on me,” said Thomas, who counts his 6-year-old daughter as the chief motivation for moving forward. “This process has really showed me who really was there for me and who really wasn’t. I just stuck with the process and I felt as long as I continues to just work on my game and be positive and show everyone that I have a good character off the court everything else was going to fall into place.”

So far with Windy City, things have done just that for Thomas, who scored 16 points in a 98-92 loss to Raptors 905 on Wednesday and who is averaging 17.5 points per game for Windy City (1-3).

Like Thomas, the Windy City Bulls are focused on their guard’s present – not his past.

“With some guys, the path night not be exactly linear and they have some ups and downs,” Windy City Bulls coach Nate Loenser said.  Aaron’s had a couple ups and downs in his past, but he’s settled in with our staff. We’re very fortunate to have him here.”

Follow me on Twitter @JeffArnold_.

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