So I'm flipping around channels on the hotel TV late Thursday night and come across the last few minutes of the Syracuse-Connecticut Big East Tournament game.
The score is close, and since I love the final minutes of college basketball games I decide to stick around and see who pulls out the win.
Little did I realize that I'd have to wait until close to 1:30 in the morning to get my answer.
Six overtimes and nearly four hours after it started, No. 20 Syracuse pulled out an a 127-117 win over No. 4 Connecticut. It was one of the most amazing college basketball games I've ever seen, and well worth every bit of lost sleep.
Sometime around the fifth overtime, I hear the announcers say that another Syracuse player had just fouled out. Coming into the game to replace him was a young man named Justin Thomas. Thomas, they point out, is a walk-on. He's only played 21 minutes all season, and now is coming in to be one of the five Syracuse players on the court that will determine whether they win or lose one of the most epic battles in Big East college basketball history.
"Wow", I think to myself, "that sure goes to show you how important good walk-ons are for a program."
Little did I know everything Thomas had been through to get to this point.
He was a star basketball player in Los Angeles heading into his junior year and getting attention from all the big west coast programs.
Some analysts said he might be one of the best guards to come out of the area in decades. Then, playing a pick-up football game at lunch, he breaks is fibula and tears all of the ligaments in his ankle. He's out for his junior year. Then, ten games into his senior season, he breaks his hand going for a steal in a game. Two surgeries on his severely injured hand later, his high school career was over.
All of the recruiting letters stopped. He finds himself at Syracuse and tries to walk-on as as freshman. He doesn't make it...no guard spots are available, and Coach Jim Boeheim isn't willing to make an exception.
Thomas heads home and worked out all summer in the hopes of making the USC Trojans roster.
No luck.
Thomas heads back to Syracuse for his sophomore year intent on making the team this time, but knowing in his heart that if he didn't he probably would throw in the towel.
This time around, Syracuse says yes. Thomas is a walk-on at Syracuse.
Just when things were looking up, Thomas was injured again. He slipped on some ice on camus and is forced to sit out in the middle of the season. Luckily, He recovered in time for the tournament.
Walk-on athletes play a unique role in college recruiting and in college programs. Some stay in the shadows their entire college careers, and others are given opportunities that can only be defined as being in the right place at the right time. We as fans who follow college sports love to point out when a star player started his career at the bottom as a walk-on.
Back to the Syracuse-Connecticut game: Here's Thomas walking on to the court, and Coach Boeheim (understandably) doesn't have an overly confident look in his eyes as he sees his often-injured walk-on getting ready for one of the biggest pressure situations any college player could face.
Thomas, on the other hand, looked confident and fully aware of what he needed to do. He needed to get out there and show the world, and himself, that all of his incredibly hard work and dedication was worth it.
If you read the box score from the game, Justin Thomas' line isn't going to impress you all that much: Seven minutes of playing time, a rebound, and a blocked shot. No points, no shots taken.
But he played well, and did what he had to do as part of a team. Thomas was sent into battle with all of 21 minutes of college playing time under his belt. And he played like a seasoned pro.
In working with college programs around the country, it always surprises me how random walk-on players' opportunities tend to be. One coach described his walk-ons as "necessary evils", another admitted that her walk-ons were all coached by her assistants because she just didn't have the time to devote to them like she would with her scholarship players.
Those coaches are missing the big lessons that Thursday's game should teach every coach in the country. In the same way Justin Thomas should inspire student-athletes who are clawing their way into college sports through the walk-on process.
Thomas' important role down the stretch in Syracuse's amazing six-overtime Big East tournament win over Connecticut should remind college coaches just how important these players are in determining the success of their programs