One of the few 2026 players in the region to receive their first division offer since the June 15th contact date was Ian Thomas. The 6’3” guard of De Smet Jesuit High School (MO) and MidPro South also had a few other division one schools reach out to him.
The offer for Thomas came from Northern Illinois University. “It has felt surreal so far,” Thomas said about picking up his first offer. “I am thankful for god continuously opening doors for me. It has been a blessing seeing all my hard work being recognized, but the job is not finished, and the work truly starts here.”
Other schools to have reached out to him this week include Southern Indiana and Valparaiso. As well, Austin Peay, South Dakota, and Missouri-Kansas City have all shown interest in the rising junior. He also recently attended the Southern Indiana elite camp.
“I had a solid spring season while continuously developing my game overall,” he said about his play recently with MidPro South. Thomas was a big aspect of getting MidPro South to an undefeated 4-0 record at the NY2LA Next Level Invitational during the May live period.
Up next for Thomas with De Smet during the June live periods is the Midwest Basketball Showcase this weekend in Kansas City. “I am extremely excited for the upcoming live periods which will give me the opportunity to compete and play but also improve as well.