Veteran coach Al Thomas takes over as head of Riverdale’s basketball program

By WILLIAM FRANCISCUS

Staff writer

RIVERDALE — Just when he thought he might be out, they pulled him back in.

Al Thomas had finished his 29th year of coaching and his 18th as a head coach and had contemplated retirement after his last year at Cory Rawson High School, but he decided he still had more to give the game. Thomas accepted the head boys basketball job at Riverdale and looks to bring the program to prominence.

“I am really excited to be at Riverdale,” Thomas said. “Riverdale reached out to me to see if I was still interested in coaching and it felt like everything just lined up really well for me. I am excited about the job and looking forward to the season ahead.”

Thomas has started doing open gym workouts and has been able to assess what kind of team he will be leading this season.

“We have five returning lettermen players back so obviously that is a great nucleus, and we have some pretty good JV players and a lot of players that will be coming up to contribute to the varsity team, so everyone is competing for their jobs right now,” Thomas said. “We also have eight or nine sophomores that are playing a lot of basketball and really enjoying it, so we think the future is bright at Riverdale for basketball, and the next three or four years are going to be a successful turnaround within the basketball program.”

Thomas has a long history in basketball. He played three years at Findlay High School, then was a four-year letterman at Bowling Green State University. He then began his coaching career after college.

“I became a coach and why I’ve stayed in coaching for so long is because I had great coaches that propelled me to stay in coaching and I have worked with some amazing people,” Thomas said. “I also still enjoy coaching the kids and I enjoy competition and winning and making sure that I am a positive influence on the kids.”

A lot has changed throughout the years since Thomas started coaching but he believes that his style of coaching still can work in this era of basketball.

“I’m very old school and I use a lot of the process that I learned many years ago that I believe is the right way,” he said. “I feel like I have a lot to give to the younger generation and my coaching staff, and I believe that the old ways can still work. We want to focus on discipline, hard work, fundamentals and being successful, and that’s why I continue to stay in coaching because I believe those things can help students become successful, not only as a basketball player but to become successful in life.”

Riverdale and Thomas will look to play a different brand of basketball this season.

“We’re going to do a lot more pressing and get after people defensively full court,” he said. “On the offense side, we’re going to try and push the tempo and play motion where everyone is touching the ball.”

Thomas has high expectations and expects his team to be in a lot of close games in hopes of being in the mix down the stretch.

“I believe in the people we have coming back and the upcoming kids we have, so I expect every single game is going to be a close game, and we think we’re going to have a great opportunity to win a lot more games than we lose,” Thomas said.