AAU Coach: Thomas to decide next weekend

By Ryan Greene

Thursday, May 14, 2009 | 6:41 p.m.

This week, Quintrell Thomas will finish up his finals, pack up his belongings in his on-campus apartment and leave Lawrence, Kan.

He'll head home to New Jersey for a week, but where he goes beyond that is still unknown.

In fact, it won't be known until next weekend.

"He's coming home, just gonna come home for the week and be with his family and the people he trusts," his former New Jersey Elite AAU coach Derrick Bobbitt said on Thursday. "He'll ask the people around him what they think."

Bobbitt said, though, that ultimately, it will be Thomas's choice, even though he'll seek counsel from his loved ones.

He added that he and Thomas have spoken periodically over the past couple of weeks. However, Bobbitt wouldn't disclose any of the pros and cons he may have passed on to his former player regarding the three schools he's visited and is expected to choose from: UNLV, St. Joseph's and Siena.

One thing is for sure, though.

"Basically, he has to get this decision right," Bobbitt said. "Some time next weekend. It's pretty simple: Come home, think about it, make a decision."

There were heavy rumors earlier in the week that Thomas was set to make a decision on Wednesday. Wednesday then turned into Thursday, and Thursday turned into Memorial Day weekend.

Whichever destination Thomas chooses, he'll sit out the 2009-10 season per NCAA rules, but will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2010-11 campaign.

Thomas announced in early April his intention to transfer from Kansas, where he averaged 1.5 points and 2 rebounds per game in a limited role as a reserve on a team that advanced to the Midwest regional semifinals, only to lose in Indianapolis to eventual national runner-up Michigan State.

More than anything, Thomas appeared to be the victim of poor timing at Kansas.

Bill Self and his coaching staff began recruiting Thomas relatively late in the game. Facing a massive loss to graduation and early entries in the NBA Draft following the 2007-08 season, Self was able to draw a commitment from the St. Patrick High product.

However, even later in the recruiting season, Self added twin forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris -- both of whom played significant minutes for the Jayhawks -- after they de-committed from Memphis for the second time.

Add onto that the transfer to Kansas by Arizona freshman 7-footer Jeff Withey, the addition of highly-touted prep forward Thomas Robinson and the announcement by All-Big 12 forward Cole Aldrich that he'd return for his junior season and the depth chart appeared insurmountable.

After visiting St. Joseph's in Philadelphia, he took an official trip to UNLV during the first weekend in May, followed by last weekend's jaunt to upstate New York to see Siena.

Multiple attempts to reach Thomas since his visit to Las Vegas have been unsuccessful.

The Rebels have two open scholarships for next season following last month's transfer of freshman guard DeShawn Mitchell.