PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID BATES
St. Mary’s alum and Winthrop native Devin Thompson has made a big impact at UNE
By JOSHUA KUMMINS
Before taking over as head basketball coach at the University of New England, Ed Silva wanted to recruit Winthrop’s Devin Thompson to play at Elms College in Chicopee, after following his outstanding career at St. Mary’s High School in Lynn.
Thompson ― an Applied Exercise Science/Pre-Physical Therapy major ― did not find Elms to be the best academic fit. But Silva reached out again after being hired at UNE, and Thompson had already made his college choice.
“I hadn’t heard where he had committed to, so I reached out to him in a text,” Silva recalled.
Thompson committed to the Nor’easters program before Silva’s next coaching move had been announced, and the rest is history.
“I was like, ‘Well, do you know who the coach is there?’ He said no. … At the time I knew (I was going to coach there), but they hadn’t made the decision public,” Silva said. “I said, ‘Hey, you’re texting with him right now.’ I was pretty ecstatic to get him.”
Thompson, who also played high school baseball for the Spartans, has held an important role right from the start of his career on campus in Biddeford, Maine.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior guard has averaged double-digit points each year as a Nor’easter and is again the team’s leading scorer, averaging 19.1 points per game. He is shooting 46.7 percent from beyond the arc and leads the team with 18 steals in nine games this season
UNE’s 6-3 start includes road wins against in-state foes Bowdoin and Bates, and a Commonwealth Coast Conference victory over Western New England on Dec. 5. Thompson is excited to see how the rest of the year plays out.
“Each passing year, it gets easier and easier and you get more adapted to the game,” Thompson said. “I definitely would say this year has been successful both personally and for the team as well. I think they kind of feed into each other, you know? When the team is playing well, everybody kind of picks their game up.”
Thompson has indeed made history on the Biddeford, Maine, campus. He drained 22 points against Bowdoin on Nov. 24, a game in which he became the 29th player in UNE history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career.
The feat is an even more impressive one for Thompson, as he achieved it in less than three years. He missed all but seven games during his sophomore season after tearing his MCL.
The tear marked Thompson’s first major injury, but it allowed him to grow closer to and develop a deeper appreciation for the game he loves.
“I never really had an injury where I couldn’t play for an entire season,” said Thompson, who will have the opportunity to continue his career as a graduate student.
“It definitely changed my outlook on the game and it made me realize that at any point, your career could be over. Some people have knee injuries and never come back the same, so luckily I was able to rehab it and get back to it.”
Even the best players have room to improve. Thompson may be the fourth-highest scorer in the CCC, but he has been working on becoming a more complete player to help the team.
Silva noted Thompson’s physical development and growth as a leader, while Thompson echoed Silva’s thoughts about his style of play.
“I would have to say that I was a shooter. I feel like that’s the scouting report, mostly, on me,” Thompson said. “But I’ve definitely been working on my ball-handling and trying to get to the rim a little bit more, try to get to the foul line and use that to my advantage as much as I can.”
Joshua Kummins can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.
