City of Basketball Love

By Zak Wolf
—

For Micah Thompson’s entire life he was a quarterback. However, that passion started to dwindle following his sophomore season at Plymouth Whitemarsh. A tough second campaign as the junior varsity quarterback for the Colonials made him rethink everything. 

The game started to feel monotonous for Thompson, especially during the 2023 summer. He wasn’t having fun and didn’t feel he was being used correctly. 

Then came an epiphany that June. A week after a seven-on-seven football tournament, he suited up for PW during Philly Live. That Saturday morning, he found out the Colonials would be playing in front of Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo.

Thompson’s performance in front of the legendary coach was unsatisfactory. Despite not being a Power Four caliber player, he felt unprepared and thought if he put more effort into basketball, results would follow. 

“I said to myself, ‘I can't let that happen again.’ So basketball took over,” Thompson said.

A week later, he emailed PW’s football coach, informing him he was quitting. 

It was a tough decision for Thompson. Quitting after dedicating hours to fuel his football fire was a risk. Yet, Thompson felt basketball was his calling. It’s hard to stand out on a team with two Division I prospects — Mani Sajid (Towson) and Mike Pereira (UPenn), but Thompson excelled in Plymouth Whitemarsh’s 75-33 drubbing of Upper Dublin on Tuesday. The 6-foot-6 forward was everywhere defensively, recording three blocks, nine rebounds, along with four points. 

“Defense is always a team thing,” Thompson said. “Communication, talking, trusting the people behind you on defense is always a big part. When we're locked in like that defensively, it's easy for me to kind of get up and fend more aggressively on defense.”

PW head coach Jim Donofrio feels Thompson is “15 times the player he was” as a ninth- and 10th-grader. He labeled Thompson’s feet, reaction time and touch all as average during those seasons. 

Becoming more fluid in basketball was always going to be a challenge for Thompson. He’d trained his body to mold himself into a quarterback for years and the sudden switch was drastic. Throw in the fact minutes at center would be limited due to Pereira’s dominance and Thompson had to make his impact somewhere. 

During JV games, he challenged himself by picking up smaller guards full court in an effort to increase his foot speed. Matching up with the 6-foot-10 Pereira in practices also made him tougher. 

Once Thompson fully committed to basketball, he realized what it takes to be successful at PW. There’s no offseason under Donofrio. Players work on their games nonstop from April all the way to the season in October. It’s not voluntary, it’s an expectation. Thompson labeled the energy “infectious,” which only vindicated his choice.

“I just kind of fell in love with that culture and attitude, and that just drove me to basketball,” Thompson said. 

There was improvement last season, but over the past eight months, Donofrio saw Thompson put even more work in. He explained Thompson is an excellent student at “understanding footwork and movements” and mechanically he’s “making himself someone that colleges should pay attention to.”

Thompson said he’s talking to Division III schools like Gwynedd Mercy, Alvernia and Washington College. 

The senior is never going to light up the stat sheet. That responsibility belongs to Sajid and Pereira, who remain PW’s focal points. To make an impact, Thompson focuses on doing the little things. His length poses a problem for opposing wings and his speed gives guards trouble when the situation calls for it. 

Tuesday was the perfect example of that. He set the tone against UD, who PW lost to twice last season by a combined 38 points. The Colonials have established themselves as the early Suburban One Liberty Division favorites and Thompson kept it that way against the Cardinals. 

He recorded all three of his blocks and four points in the first quarter as the Colonials ambushed the Cardinals, leading 24-6 at the end of the first quarter. 

“That’s the biggest thing that I learned here, even past basketball and all walks of life, the energy, the focus, the attentiveness that's going to take you far,” Thompson said. “As you lock in on those types of things, results will show, even if you don't have all the analytical, statistical stuff down to the science, with energy and focus, you can go a long way.”

“He’s the glue in the transmission of that defense, inside and on offense, he does a whole lot of movements to make sure Michael (Pereira) is isolated,” Donofrio added. “He doesn't need to be the first guy to score. He then catches a high post and makes a swing and then makes another little movement all of a sudden, guys are open.”

Sajid was red hot, finishing with 31 points. He outscored Upper Dublin in the first half 15-13, while PW held a 27-point advantage at the break. The Towson commit did everything, knocking down four 3-pointers and feasted in transition during the second half, most of which was played under a running clock.

Pereira and Buddy Denard only scored five points each, while point guard Jack Hayes and Terron Davis off the bench both added nine. Despite the blowout, nobody other than Sajid finished in double figures.  

Nobody got going for Upper Dublin, who got played off the floor. Justin Ragsdale had 10 points and Koby Bazemore totaled nine, while no other player had more than five.  

PW made a statement as it looks to avenge its PIAA District 1 Championship loss to Conestoga last season. The Colonials last title came in 2023. During that season, Thompson remembers starting players like Jaden Colzie (Thomas Jefferson University), Qudire Bennett and Chase Coleman bickering at each other during a practice. 

When the problem went unsolved, Donofrio made them do suicides. It’s a minute detail in Thompson’s PW career, but it’s moments like those that have taught him to always be laser focused no matter how well the team is playing. 

“He’s a team guy,” Donofrio said. 

~~~

By Quarter
PW: 24 | 16 | 16  | 19 || 75
UD:   6 |  7  |  10 |  10 || 33

Scoring:
PW: Sajid 31, Hayes 10, Davis 10, Probst 9, Pereira 5, Thompson 4, Taormina 2, Edwards 2, Deshazor 2

UD: Ragsdale 10, Bazemore 9, Jackson 5, Cohen 2, Pilessi 2, Scherzer 2, Ravitza 2, Caron 2, Tyler 1