This offseason has been anything but normal for every single college athlete across the country. For IU's Race Thompson, these past few months have been some of the most difficult but also life altering as well.
The junior forward burst on to the scene towards the end of last season, quickly becoming a fan favorite. With his hustle plays, hard work and high IQ, Thompson proved to be extremely critical to the team's success down the stretch. Now, not only is he going to step up his play on the court, but he will be looked at as a leader of the team as well.
"I feel like Race has stepped up tremendously this year and become more of an outspoken leader, whether that be on the court or off the court," Al Durham said. "Race has really stepped into a role of leadership with the younger guys and taken them under his wing – teaching them how to do certain things and showing them how we operate as a team. He's been doing very well. Race has really done a good job with that and stepped his game up and his communication up tremendously."
For a guy who averaged just 3.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season, taking on a leadership role isn't always the easiest. Thompson has missed almost as many games as he has played during his career in Bloomington, but fans and teammates saw what he brings to the table when healthy.
Now a fourth-year junior, Thompson has 'been 'here' before and knows the ins and outs of Indiana basketball and college in general, something needed even more during this unpredictable time.
"I'm going into my fourth year here, I know stuff so I can help people out," Thompson said. "It's just easy because I already know so it's just teaching the younger guys, teaching everybody because I feel like I know what's going on."
While finding ways to get on the court and in gyms to workout was the main goal for multiple players this spring and summer, Thompson was busy putting his time and energy into another aspect of his life.
The Minnesota native grew up just 15 minutes away from the street corner where George Floyd was murdered. Not only did it cause an uproar around the entire country, but it also caused a movement for change, something Thompson knew he had to be part of.
"Those marches and protests were all very powerful movements in Minneapolis," Thompson said. "The George Floyd ordeal happened in my hometown city and that's literally 15 minutes away from my house where I live. I felt obligated to go down there. I needed to show support for these people because this is home for me, it hit home for me. I've been down there to Cup Foods and to that area so it really just hit home for me."
As the season quickly approaches, Thompson now looks to bring a matured mindset to the entire roster and knows its needed with the amount of youth in the locker room.
"It has to just do with being around, being comfortable with everybody. Knowing that everybody trusts me, knowing my coaches trust me," Thompson said. "It just makes it easier for me to have a voice for the younger guys."
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