Catching Up With the Competition : Freshman Thompson Is Blossoming Into a Standout for Toros

Chris Thompson did not play organized basketball until his sophomore year in high school, but he has made up for the late start with a lot of hard work.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills freshman guard grew up playing soccer, but switched sports because most of his friends were playing basketball.

Now he leads the Toros in scoring at 10.7 and assists at 2.2. Last week the 6-foot point guard became the first Dominguez Hills player since the seventh game of the season with a scoring average in double figures.

Thompson, 19, has also led the defense-oriented Toros in California Collegiate Athletic Assn. scoring at 13.5. Dominguez Hills is 10-7 overall and 2-2 in the CCAA.

“His strength is that he has a multiplicity of skills,” Dominguez Hills Coach Dave Yanai said. “He’s a good perimeter player and he creates his own shots. His ball-handling skills are as good as anyone in this conference and he has very good instincts.”

That wasn’t always the case for Thompson, who rarely played during his first season of competitive basketball as a sophomore at Artesia High.

When Thompson did play, it was usually for the junior varsity team. It was a disappointing and frustrating season.

So when the summer arrived, Thompson decided to work on his game. When he returned for his junior season, he had improved enough to start at point guard. In two seasons as a starter, he helped the Pioneers win a state title and two league championships.

“I was very inexperienced and I had no skills, but I had lots of heart to play,” Thompson said. “I worked real hard during summer. I really worked on ball-handling and I worked out a lot on my own.”

Artesia Coach Wayne Merino says Thompson’s improvement was evident in his junior season. Coaches and players were impressed with his progress.

“He was always willing to work hard,” Merino said. “He had lots of determination to get better. It’s unbelievable to see the improvement in him each year. It’s amazing, phenomenal. It’s a credit to how hard he works.”

As a junior, Thompson helped the Pioneers win the Suburban League title and reach the final of the CIF playoffs. During his senior season in 1989-90, Artesia defended its Suburban League title won the California Division II championship. Thompson broke a school career-steal record (117) and was named to the All-Suburban League first team as a senior.

Despite his success, he was overshadowed by teammate Ed O’Bannon, who was considered the best high school player in California. The highly touted O’Bannon, currently a freshman at UCLA, averaged 24.6 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.3 steals as a senior.

Thompson says O’Bannon is a good friend and the two work out together during the summer.

“He’s helped me out a lot,” Thompson said. “We worked on our games over the summer at Artesia. We keep in touch.”

Both athletes had plenty of time to talk last season because they couldn’t compete. O’Bannon sat out because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and Thompson was academically ineligible after failing to score 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. However, under NCAA Division II rules, he did not lose a year of eligibility.

“I was surprised and disappointed,” Thompson said. “I took it late in June and it was the last SAT that year. I had a 3.1 grade-point average at Artesia so I thought I’d do better.”

Thompson attended classes full time at Dominguez Hills but couldn’t practice with the team because of his academic status. The Toros struggled to a 5-7 conference record.

“It was irritating,” Thompson said. “I had a couple of basketball classes and I worked out on my own, but it’s not the same. Most basketball players don’t like to watch basketball games without playing in them.”

Thompson said returning to practice was tough, despite the fact he was in good shape. The discipline needed to play defense was lacking.

“I completely forgot how to play defense in the off-season,” he said. “I had no discipline. I thought, ‘Oh man, I forgot about this!’ Coach Yanai is very blunt. He tells it like it is and he’d say, ‘You couldn’t stop nobody.’

“So I questioned my own heart, ‘Can I stop nobody?’ It really made me question myself. I used to dream about it and think, ‘Oh man I have to go back to practice!’ ”

But Thompson says once he got going, everything was fine. He believes he has improved greatly from the start of practice in October.

“It took at least a good three weeks to understand that I had to slide my feet and get down on defense,” he said. “I remembered that I liked it. I really like playing defense. I always have.”

Yanai says Thompson still needs improve his defense, however.

“He has lots of enthusiasm and he works very hard at it, but he’s a freshman and he makes mistakes,” Yanai said. “He has real good footwork and he can become one of the best defensive players in the backcourt. He has really learned very quickly.”

Merino said college coaches were hesitant to recruit Thompson because he started playing basketball so late.

“He blossomed into a talented player in a very short time,” Merino said. “He was recruited mildly because coaches didn’t know how good he could be. He didn’t have the backing that the others had because he hadn’t played that long.

“But I think he’s playing for a very good teacher (Yanai). That’s what Chris needs. It’s a great program for him.”

Thompson says Yanai, in his 15th year as Dominguez Hills coach, has helped refine his skills. But a former Toro player has also made a difference.

“Last year when I was up in the stands Robert (Barksdale) used to come up to me and say, ‘Next year it’s your show. Don’t mess up!’ I’ll never forget that.”

Barksdale was a three-time All-CCAA point guard for the Toros. Thompson plans to follow his footsteps.