Men's Basketball | 1/24/2017 10:43:00 AM

By Duane Cochran for FightingFalcons.com

Thomas Wimbush isn't just a great basketball player. He's a bona fide student of the game.

When Wimbush first arrived in Fairmont from Lorain, Ohio he was redshirted for the 2012-13 season. That season Wimbush was committed not only to molding himself into a solid college basketball player, but also to learning as much as he could about FSU's opponents. In fact, he was so committed that he drove himself to away games to study, watch and learn.

"That was coach (Jerrod) Calhoun's first season and to watch he, the staff and the guys here then turn the program around completely and make the National Tournament was a great learning experience for me." Wimbush said. "I was trying to learn as much as I could about college basketball at this level. I went to every road game and drove myself there, but the experience and what I learned from it was worth it."

Was it ever. The following season Wimbush, a 6-7 forward, earned a starting spot for the Falcons and was named the Mountain East Conference's Freshman of the Year and second-team all-league after averaging 14.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

As a sophomore Wimbush's scoring (11.3) dipped a bit, but he increased his rebounds to 6.4 per game and was named honorable mention All-MEC. It was then and the following season when Wimbush, a second-team All-MEC performer as a junior, started to take note of a particular player in the league who was a virtual nightmare to guard. That player was West Liberty's Seger Bonifant, a 6-7 forward who garnered MEC Player of the Year honors in both 2014-15 and 2015-16. Bonifant shot the three with pinpoint accuracy and if opponents tried to man him up on the outside he possessed guard-like skills and could get to the rim with ease and finish. Wimbush was impressed and once again learned.

"The thing about Thomas is he's always trying to improve himself as a player," FSU senior point guard Shammgod Wells said. "When he first got here he had a lot of raw talent, but to his credit he's worked very hard to mold that talent into becoming a very good basketball player. He's in the gym all of the time trying to improve himself.

"He's also learned from guys we've played against like Seger Bonifant for example. He saw how tough he was to guard and what a dual threat he was with the basketball and wanted to be more like that. When he changed positions this season from power forward to small forward he saw a chance to be more versatile and worked very hard in the off season on his shooting."

Wimbush always possessed an ability to hit 3-point shots, but he didn't shoot a lot of them during the first three years of his career. This season, however, Wimbush has connected on 40-of-93 3-pointers (43 percent) and is shooting 52.5 percent from the field overall (105-of-200). Like Bonifant if you try to man up Wimbush on the outside he can easily go around you and finish at the rim.

"Wimbush is ridiculous," University of Charleston coach Dwaine Osborne said. "You can hardly guard him. He can shoot the three now consistently and when you start to worry about that he'll take you off of the dribble."

One knock on Wimbush during his first three seasons of playing for the Falcons was that at times he had a propensity to disappear in games. He addressed that with himself this off season and eighteen games into his senior year Wimbush is averaging 17.1 points and 6.9 rebounds. He's scored in double figures in all but two of the Falcons' games this season, including a current streak of 14 straight games in double digits. There's little doubt his consistent performances have played a major role in helping FSU get off to an 18-0 start and achieve a No. 2 ranking in the nation in NCAA Division II men's basketball.

"That's definitely the one thing you can say about me and my play is that at times I have been inconsistent," Wimbush said. "I'm still trying to get better at that believe it or not. I was challenged and I challenged myself to be more consistent this year. I came into the season feeling like every game I needed to have my paw print on it so to speak. I wanted to leave an imprint on every game be it with points, rebounds, steals, assists or whatever. I just feel like I have to have an impact every game and I'm trying to do that."

Talk to FSU head coach Jerrod Calhoun about Wimbush's development as a player and the fifth-year Falcons' boss can't help but answer with a smile.

"His first three years of playing for us I think he was still growing and trying to figure out exactly what type of player he was," Calhoun said. "We challenged him this off season to really work on his outside shot and to be more consistent, both on the floor and in the locker room as a leader for us. We wanted him to be vocal and help out with the younger guys.

"So far he's done a tremendous job for us. We've put him in a lot of situations this season where we're doing a lot of pick-and-roll stuff and he's doing a lot of the popping and outside shooting.

"One of the things I love about Thomas is he's been in our program for five years now and not one time during the course of those five years has he ever questioned what we're doing or what we've wanted him to do. He's been the ultimate team player."

One individual who is benefiting from Wimbush's consistent play this season is senior power forward Matt Bingaya, who is averaging a team-best 20.2 points and 7.7 rebounds.

"Thomas is just locked in and focused every game this year," Bingaya said. "We're a team which jokes around a lot with each other and we like to have fun, but on game day we just have a whole different demeanor about us. I think he is, without a doubt, more focused than I've ever seen him before and you're seeing the result of it in his play.

"It's fun watching him play and do his thing. When he's out there hitting shots or becomes that threat to drive it's opening it up more for me inside. We're really playing well together and I think as seniors we feel like every game it's up to us to set the tone and get us going.

"With us it's kinda like pick your poison. I love seeing him score buckets and he likes seeing me score buckets. Are you going to take away him on the outside or him driving? If you do it's going to open things up inside for me and Trev (Trevor Andrews-Evans). If you focus on stopping us inside Thomas, (Jason) Jolly, Vonte (Montgomery) and D.J. (D'Ondre Stockman) can all hit shots from the outside. We're a pretty balanced team and right now we're playing pretty well together."

On the defensive end of the floor Wimbush is the point man in Fairmont's press, which is working as well as it ever has under Calhoun, and his length and athleticism has caused problems at times for a number of opposing guards.

"I just try to be as active as I can," Wimbush said. "I try to get into passing lanes and deflect balls so we can get steals and points off of those."

Calhoun found Wimbush thanks to Shawn Hood, a former standout player at Calhoun's alma mater Cleveland State University, who coached Wimbush in AAU ball. Hood currently is the head coach of Westlake High School in Ohio.

"Coach Hood knew coach Calhoun and he told me he was taking over the program at Fairmont State and that he thought it would be a good situation for me," Wimbush said. "That's all it took. I made a visit here and liked it. I wanted to be somewhere away from home, but not too far away. I wanted to experience something different."

Now Wimbush, who will graduate this May with a degree in political science and a minor in criminal justice, considers Fairmont a second home. He says his experiences at FSU and with the school's basketball team and the community in general have been great.

"I'm very grateful for the career I've been able to have here and honestly I love the city of Fairmont," Wimbush said. "If this city ever needs anything from me I'll be right there because from day one the community and it's people here have welcomed me with open arms and have shown me nothing but love. For a young kid who came here from Lorain, Ohio not knowing anyone that was something special and I won't forget it.

"You know this is the last go around for me. The chances for me to wear the Fairmont jersey and have the lights come on here and play in front of the fans are limited. I understand that. You can say what you want but I know I'm going to miss this college experience that I've had here at Fairmont State University. There's no doubt about it. Every game I'm going to give my all because I am a senior and I realize time for me is ticking. I have limited minutes left in my college career. I just want to give my all and continue to enjoy this ride we're on."

And so far for Thomas Wimbush and his FSU teammates the 2016-17 season has been one heck of a ride.