LSU Five-Star Guard Cam Thomas Named to Inaugural SI All-American Second-Team
On Thursday, LSU five-star guard signee Cam Thomas was named to the SI All-American second-team, an inaugural award recognizing the 15 best high school players in the 2020 class.
With LSU losing its top scorer in Skylar Mays from the 2019 season, many feel that Thomas will be able to step in and fill that void right from the start of his freshman season. When Thomas initially signed with the Tigers back in November, coach Will Wade was asked about his elite ability to put the ball in the hole.
"He’s the best scorer I’ve seen come out of high school or AAU since I’ve been coaching," Wade said back in November. "He’s as prolific a scorer I’ve ever seen. Tremendous kid, tremendous family. His mother Leslie is a great lady, sister Shanice, really good people. They’ve done a great job of putting him in positions to be successful and locking in on his development."
SI All-American recruiting analyst Jason Jordan agrees with Wade's sentiments and Thomas' numbers back them up as well.
Why He's an All-American: After leading the Nike EYBL in scoring last summer (30 ppg), Thomas didn’t get his just due as an elite player in the class. He channeled that frustration into dominance this season, pumping in 31.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists for the Warriors, who finished ranked No. 7 in the ESPN 25. Thomas shot 56% from the field and 37% from the three-point line this season, despite seeing every defensive strategy imaginable aimed at stopping him. Thomas is Oak Hill’s all-time leading scorer.
"It’s great because all of the sacrifice and hard work I’m putting in is paying off. It just feels great to be recognized for it,” Thomas told SI All-American once learning the news.
LSU has one of the top ranked recruiting classes heading to Baton Rouge in the fall including Thomas as well as three-star star signees Jalen Cook and Bradley Ezewiro, four-star commits Eric Gaines and Mwani Wilkerson and transfers Josh Leblanc and Shareef O'Neal.
If Wade is able to convince one or two of Javonte Smart, Emmitt Williams and Trendon Watford to return to school, the Tigers would set themselves up nicely for a deep run in the tournament in 2020.
"Certainly we feel like we're moving in the right direction. We're gonna have a very good team and a deep team, which is important," Wade told LSUCountry two weeks back. "We're certainly going to have a few more pieces next year and we're excited about that. That's what you want as a coach, to put the pieces to the puzzle together to make it look good. I think we will have a very, very good team next year and we're looking forward to that."
