SoCalHoops High School News

Jason Thomas Will Not Play
Basketball At USC--(Dec. 10, 1998)

Quarterback Jason Thomas (6'-4" Fr. PF) from Compton Dominguez, who made up one third of the the State Championship troika (Kenny Brunner and Tayshaun Prince were the other two from Dominguez) who was expected to play football and basketball for the Trojans, said he will not play basketball this season. "I want to concentrate on football," Thomas told reporters. He redshirted in football this season after undergoing ankle surgery, and his decision had been widely speculated since early September when he decided to take the year off from football after not getting much playing time and falling to third on the depth chart behind freshman quarterback Carson Palmer and Van Raaphorst.  Thomas had always been a dual sport athlete and was expected to compete in both sports. He signed a football scholarship rather than a basketball scholarship because under NCAA regulations, a player cannot sign a basketball scholarship and walk on to the football team, but the NCAA rule do permit a player to do just the opposite, i.e., sign as a footballer and then walk on to the basketball team.   Why the difference? We don't know, but we're sure somebody's got a good reason.   Or maybe not.  Just one of the many oddities about NCAA rules & regs governing student athletes.

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