Hoosiers Now

Daryl Thomas' Son, Kyle Thomas, Gets First Big Ten Offer From Illinois

Kyle Thomas is 6-foot-9 and the son of Indiana's Daryl Thomas, a key piece of the 1987 national championship team who passed away in 2018. Kyle is a junior-to-be at Westchester St. Joseph's, and he got his first Big Ten offer last week.

Tom Brew

Kyle Thomas, the son of former Indiana great Daryl Thomas, is starting to make a name for himself on the basketball court, too.

Kyle is a 6-foot-9 center at Westchester St. Joseph's in suburban Chicago, his father's alma mater, and also the school that produced Isiah Thomas for the Hoosiers. Kyle is one of the top players in the state of Illinois in the Class of 2022, and got his first Big Ten offer last week, earning the honor from Brad Underwood and Illinois.

He's also on the radar of several other Big Ten schools, including Indiana, though its very early in the process. Indiana has offers out to about eight players in that class thus far, with more to come.

Mattew Stevens, our Sports Illustrated Illinois publisher, had the story over the weekend of Illinois' offer to Kyle and invited me to talk about Daryl Thomas' legacy at Indiana. Here's the complete story, which also includes the entire 14-minute interview. CLICK HERE

Kyle Thomas doesn't use Twitter much, but he pays homage to his father in his cover photo.
Kyle Thomas doesn't use Twitter much, but he pays homage to his father in his cover photo

Illinois is just the first offer for Thomas, who is already two inches taller than his father was and is still growing. He averaged 9.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in 20 contests as a sophomore last season.

Daryl Thomas played four years at Indiana from 1984 to 1987, and was a key starter on the title team, Indiana's last. He endured a lot of grief from coach Bob Knight, and is just one of 52 players who have topped the 1,000-point mark at Indiana.

Daryl Thomas scored 1,095 points in his four-year career with the Hoosiers and may be most remembered for making the pass to Keith Smart for the game-winning shot that lifted Indiana to a 74-73 victory over Syracuse in the 1987 national championship game. Knight has said that Thomas' decision to pass the ball to Smart who had a better shot "the greatest single play I ever had a kid make.''

Thomas passed away of a heart attack in 2018, leaving behind a wife and three children. He was 52 years old.

Recent Indiana basketball stories

  • KNIGHT VISITS HALL OF FAME: Bob Knight visited the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame last week — and was wearing an Ohio State shirt. CLICK HERE
  • RACE THOMPSON ON COMMITTEE: Indiana basketball player Race Thompson has been named to the Big Ten's anti-racism coalition. CLICK HERE
  • TWITTER: Follow Tom Brew on Twitter @tombrewsports
  • FACEBOOK: Like our Indiana page on Facebook at Facebook.com/SportsIllustratedIndiana
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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as a reporter and editor, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the Indianapolis Star and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered college sports in the digital platform for the past six years, including the last five years as publisher of HoosiersNow on the FanNation/Sports Illustrated network.

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