Brandy Thomas is a graduate student in her first year at Hofstra University and has already made a name for herself on and off the court. 

The guard started at Long Island University (LIU) before making her way to Hempstead to continue her athletic and educational career.

Thomas’ father tried to get her into the sport at a very young age, but she wasn’t into it, despite her older sister being a basketball player herself.

“I wasn’t really into it or interested,” Thomas said. “I was like this type of kid that was sitting on the bench and just chilling.”

She didn’t start taking the game seriously until she was in ninth grade. Looking back, Thomas thinks she might have been a little more advanced if she had started earlier, but she’s happy with the decision she made.

“I’m happy with the way I started – ninth grade,” Thomas said. “I don’t think I’ll be as burned out as some people might be.”

During her high school career, Thomas was a huge presence for her team on the court as a four-year letter winner, and she helped lead the team to a state championship.

“I had a lot of great players around me,” she said. “I was a captain, so just leading with my maturity, it was easy to play.”

Besides her high school play, Thomas was on a few Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teams as well. She bounced around between teams every year, each presenting a new challenge for her.

“Some teams I would just go there and shoot the ball, so I could accumulate all the skills into one; so I’d be comfortable doing them all,” Thomas said.

Thomas played with four of her best friends during high school, but she ended up separating from them around sophomore year. In her last season with the AAU team New Heights, she reconnected with them and once again found their chemistry which was seen on the court.

“I love playing with them, and I have the best chemistry with them,” she said. “I think you never lose that chemistry with any teammates you play with, so playing with them [again], I just loved it.”

Despite her success on the court, Thomas only had one scholarship lined up when coming out of high school. She took it and ran with it, calling LIU home for the next four years.

“They believed in me, and I just wanted to show them that I can play at this college level and be productive here,” Thomas said.

At the end of her first season with LIU, she came away with many accomplishments as a rookie. She was awarded the Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Year, All-NEC Third Team and the All-Rookie award. Thomas was even ranked 27th nationally in double-doubles and led the league in scoring and rebounding. 

“It meant a lot. It felt good to just work hard and do what I knew I could do and just advance each year at that,” she said. “I think I just do what role needs to be taken under – if it’s scoring, then so be it, rebounding, or whatever I can accommodate to help the team.”

In her junior season at LIU, Thomas was one of 20 players to reach 1,000 career points in the school’s history. She didn’t realize she was so close to the historical mark until she watched one game back.

“I was listening to the game that we played before and [the commentator] was like, ‘She’s 10 points away from her 1,000th point’ and I [was like] ‘Wow,’” Thomas said. “I had no clue. It was definitely surprising for me, but it was a great memory.”

After completing her undergraduate years at LIU, Thomas is now working on her graduate degree at Hofstra. She only went on one college visit out of high school, so she wanted to explore any other options she had to continue her athletic and educational career.

“Here I feel like was the best choice for me family-wise, coaching-wise, teammate-wise,” she said. “Everybody was so open-armed.”

Thomas says that her first semester at Hofstra was a success, taking joy in her classes and professors. She feels like she’s learning a lot.  

“School-wise … I feel like I’m learning, so it’s beneficial,” she said. “On the court, definitely just having that family atmosphere around me [is great], and I’m only 10 minutes away from home.”

On balancing school and basketball, Thomas says it’s a little challenging. Since her undergraduate years, she understands she’s used to knowing her priorities and knowing how to plan things out. 

“School is a little more challenging, but it’s fun,” Thomas said. “You make time for what you need to make time for.”

In her very first semester here at Hofstra, Thomas was named a team captain. It wasn’t up to the coaches, but the players were the ones who voted on who would lead the team this season.

“It meant a lot for [my teammates] to look at me in that way, it felt very nice and warm that they choose me to to lead the squad on and off the court,” Thomas said. 

Thomas currently leads the team in points, free throws and rebounds, with the Pride only playing eight games so far. She doesn’t take full credit for her success, but rather says it’s a team effort.

“If I’m off my game, somebody else is going to pick it up and get going, or even if I’m on, they want to give me the ball to be able to create for others or even score,” Thomas said.

One goal that Thomas has this season is she wants to hit her 1,000th rebound of her career.

“Well, I looked myself up for the first time in a long time, and I’m close to my 1,000th rebound,” she said. “It would be cool if I had 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, so I’m trying to do that.”

Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein/Hofstra Athletics