VOLUME 26, ISSUE 2 21
He spent the summer reshaping
his thickset physique, narrowing his
dimensions as part of efforts to be-
come quicker and faster.
When the Boilermakers returned
to campus for the fall semester,
the program's sports performance
coach, Josh Bonhotal, put on an NBA
draft combine-like gauntlet of seven
athletic tests, for fun more than any-
thing else.
Thompson won it.
The key now for Thompson is
learning to play with physical attri-
butes he may not have possessed
before.
"It's something you have to
learn," he said. "Josh and I talked
about that, that, 'You can do some
things you couldn't do before,' and
the coaches noticed it in some of
the workouts, that I'm quicker and
faster on the court and moving bet-
ter and maybe it can help me get an
easy bucket in transition or get by
somebody in a halfcourt set more
than I could before."
Coaches have always liked
Thompson's basketball mind and his
leadership potential at point guard,
in addition to his spot-up shooting
ability, which he hopes will show
through more this season. In Pur-
due's first preseason scrimmage,
Thompson was 4-of-5 from three-
point range.
"Basketball's all about having
confidence," Thompson said. "If you
believe a shot's going to go in, it
stands a better chance to go in. And
being ready to shoot is a big thing
for me. Sometimes I wasn't always
ready and I was hesitant. I'd head-
fake or look inside first when I had
a shot."
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