By Sam Durden
On March 10th, after an upset victory over top ranked and undefeated Union in the Semifinals of the Class 6A Tournament, Rod Thompson, former University of Tulsa standout and current color analyst for Cox Sports, had the responsibility of calming his son down. His son, Bryce, a 6 foot 3 freshman guard at Booker T. Washington, netted 15 points that night, including a clutch 3 in the fourth quarter to keep the Hornets ahead.
The elder Thompson, in a calm manner asked his son “how do you feel?” The lanky freshman responded “I’m good”. Dad then responded “don’t stay up too late, get you some rest. Tomorrow you’ll have a chance to get one of your own so you won’t have to wear one of mine.” Which is a reference to the younger Thompson wearing one of his father’s three State Championship rings from his days at Beggs in the early 1990s.
Over 20 years ago, Rod Thompson had to go the hard route for basketball success. After playing 2A ball at Beggs, he played a year at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M to refine his game. Thanks to his time in Miami, OK, Thompson was then able to go onto a successful career at the University of Tulsa, which included two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
In contrast, his son Bryce, already has 4 Division One scholarship offers, Tulsa, DePaul, Oral Roberts and just this week, Oklahoma State. Add in a slew of high D1 schools recruiting him, and the offers should keep rolling in for the young sharpshooter.
With the increased focus and attention brought on by modern social media, the elder Thompson has the delicate job of not just developing his son’s game but keeping his son grounded at the same time.
Since the end of his college career, Rod Thompson has been a fixture in the Tulsa area basketball scene. Through personal training, and his AAU program, Playing with Purpose (PWP), Thompson has seen up close and impacted many of the top basketball recruits to come through Oklahoma in the past two decades.
Because of those connections, his son Bryce has had unique and valuable experiences with high level basketball recruits. “Being humble is one thing I’ve never had to worry about with Bryce,” the elder Thompson said in a recent interview. “He’s been around great players and has had the luxury to train with them all of his young life. Good and great players who remained humble, like current SMU standout and former Owasso star Shake Milton.”
While there is a focus on court, there’s more than just basketball for Bryce Thompson. Rod alluded to that when disclosing one of his favorite motivational phrases he has for his son. “We have a saying, Good or great? That is in whatever you do. Being great always requires a little more. That’s just not for basketball, that’s on and off the court. We want to be great in everything and most importantly in being a good person.”
As a freshman at one of the top schools in Oklahoma, Booker T Washington, the younger Thompson currently maintains a 3.3 GPA. To go along with the current classroom work, Rod is also proud of a previous academic accomplishment by his son. The younger Thompson is already fluent in French. In the 5th grade, he studied abroad in France for over a month as part of a language immersion program.
Though last week’s Championship game against Edmond North did not turn out in Booker T Washington’s favor, the future is bright for Bryce Thompson.
Just this past week, he took an unofficial visit to Oklahoma State. While there, he met with head coach Brad Underwood, and received his first high major offer.
Bryce Thompson also is anticipating a big summer playing for Oklahoma RUN PWP. While the program had humble beginnings when the elder Thompson helped started it in 1999-2000; they are now in the second year as a sponsored Under Armor team in the Under Armor Association. Because of that, Bryce will get a chance to play in front of college coaches while in New York City, Los Angeles and many more locations across America. Which is quite a departure from the days of his father playing in small towns gyms across Eastern Oklahoma.
The future is just now getting started for Bryce Thompson, but the groundwork has been laid for ages. Because of that work put in by both Thompson’s, the younger Thompson looks ready to take off.
OK Hoops Report Scouting Report
Thompson spent a portion of the high school season as more of a shooting specialist. Toward, the end of the season it became apparent that there’s more to his game. His handling is developing quickly. As he grows older he should have the natural strength and quickness to be a very effective finisher at the rim. With a double figure scoring average as a freshman, and multiple 20+ games, it’s easy to see how Thompson will mature into not only one of the elite shooters in Oklahoma, but an elite all around scorer.
Already standing a long 6 foot 3, Thompson has ideal size for a next level guard. But given his youth, he’s likely not done growing. If he reaches 6 foot 6 or 6 foot 7 range, he’ll have a chance to be an elite level scoring wing. Thanks to his combination of pedigree, room for growth, and silky shooting ability, this young guard is one of the most exciting prospects to track in a deep Class of 2020 in Oklahoma.
