Recommendation from legend Diana Taurasi helped ex-Cat Sam Thomas get camp invite

Midway through Sam Thomas’ freshman season, the Arizona Wildcats took on Utah in McKale Center. Thomas scored 12 points — six of them coming on 3-pointers — while grabbing three rebounds and picking two steals in what would be a 24-point UA loss.

Thomas didn’t know it, but she made a big impression.

Sitting courtside that afternoon was Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury. Taurasi was at the game to watch her friend and former UConn teammate, Morgan Valley, who was an Arizona assistant coach at the time.

After the game Taurasi said of the Wildcats: “They have a bright future.”

Taurasi could have been talking about Thomas, who signed with the Mercury last week on a training-camp deal. Taurasi, a student of the game, has watched Thomas a lot over the last five years; she recommended the Mercury sign her.

“(At that game) I was so starstruck and I was like, ‘Wow, she’s amazing.’ Who knew five years from now I’d be on the same team as her? It’s just crazy how life works,” Thomas said this week. “Just hearing that (she recommended me) is a super honor. She’s a great person. I really respect her opinion and value it. Just knowing that she’s saying great things about me. I’m very thankful for that.”

In putting together her first training camp roster, Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard relied on Taurasi, who she calls “the smartest basketball person I know.”

She also got a little help from her friends, like recently retired ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne and UA coach Adia Barnes, whom she has known since high school. Barnes and Nygaard played against each other in high school, college and the WNBA.

“(Taurasi) is a huge fan of the game; she’s constantly watching,” Nygaard said. “She was familiar with Sam, and she’s right. It’s like that player you can guard — the ‘3 and D.’ You can hit a 3 and you can play defense. There might be some space for you.

“…Adia told me she was a five-year captain, and I was like, ‘If you’re the five-time captain, come over here.’ I was like, ‘We’d love to have you.’ (I am) really excited to have her and really excited for everything she could do.”

Three days into camp, Thomas is already showing off her high basketball IQ. Nygaard said Thomas is “doing a great job. She’s been wonderful.” The Mercury will play an exhibition game April 28 against the Seattle Storm, then open their season May 6 at home against the Las Vegas Aces.

Thomas has been hitting open 3s in practice and using her size and strength to guard multiple positions. She can even run the floor, Nygaard said.

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“She’s really played to our strengths and the things that she does well … for us,” Nygaard said.

Thomas has quickly developed a connection with Nygaard. The coach gave a playful introduction — “Sam Thomas!” — during the changeover between their respective interviews Tuesday afternoon.

Before Nygaard finished, she said this about why Thomas makes a good professional basketball player:

“She’s very even-keeled. She plays hard consistently without highs and lows. So that impresses me from a young player. She’s an outstanding 3-point shooter. I think that’s a huge asset. And she really has a very deep knowledge understanding of defensive concepts. I think there’s a lot of scouting report defense in the WNBA, but her foundation is really, really strong. She seems considerably resilient. No matter what happens, she keeps pressing.”

When she arrived at the UA five years ago, Thomas had no way of knowing she would end up sharing a court with Taurasi. But hours spent with Barnes and assistant Salvo Coppa in the summers, at practices and in individual workouts have changed her path.

“They’ve always been focused on skill work,” Thomas said. “That’s one thing that Adia and Salvo love is just taking that time to develop players. I think for me, it’s really helped me with my shot and then just getting smarter with offense learning reads. Carrying that to the pros, it’s obviously very hard to make the reads, especially when you’re going against great players. Taking that to the next level and just learning the game of basketball. I think Adia and Salvo have taught me so much.”

Thomas’ teammates have helped make the transition from college to pro much easier. Four-year guard Sophie Cunningham has given Thomas tips on what to do during certain scenarios on offense.

Taurasi has also been helping Thomas … mot of the time. The famously fiery Taurasi doesn’t give out any helpful hints when Thomas guards her in practice.

“It’s just a crazy experience knowing you’re going up against her,” Thomas said. “You try and just focus on, she’s just another player, you’re just defending her, but I mean, you have to be realistic: It’s Diana Taurasi. It’s been really fun getting to learn from her and just play defense on because she’s obviously a great basketball player. So just soaking in all the information that I can.”

The Mercury’s system and coach are new to Thomas; so are her teammates. The message before practice Tuesday was “embracing the uncomfortable and that’s what’s going to make you better.”

“We’re going at full speed all the time,” Thomas said. “You get a little bit (of time) to learn the offense, but then you feel like you’re just thrown into it as a rookie because you haven’t been here. You’re just learning as much as you can and your mistakes, you know, you feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, I did it so wrong,’ but you learn from your mistakes.

“And that’s what I’ve kind of learned throughout these couple few days of training camp is just do whatever I can. If I make a mistake, it’s, ‘OK, just don’t do it again.’”