Kennedy A Big Catch for Lancers
‘It was pins and needles’: 6-foot-9 scorer follows his father in Windsor commitment
For a kid he’s known for over a decade, Thomas Kennedy sure made University of Windsor Lancers men’s head basketball coach Chris Oliver sweat it out. Oliver joined the Lancers in 2005 and Kennedy was only five-years old at the time, but he’d kick around the floor at the St. Denis Centre while his dad, former Lancers captain Jim Kennedy, would catch a practice. On Monday, the six-foot-nine, 210-pound Kennedy followed in his father’s footsteps by committing to the Lancers, but Oliver admits the wait was a bit stressful.
“He made us work for it and I’m happy about that because we want players, at the end of the day, that are committed to what we do and how we do it,” Oliver said. “Not that many players are around a program in advance. You can’t hide anything from him.”
For the 17-year-old Kennedy, the wait had nothing to do with Oliver and his program. There were options to consider. He had heard from NCAA schools like Butler University, Colgate University, Northeastern University and Davidson University. He could have returned to Southwest Academy in London for another year to get stronger and pursue that option, but the long awaited decision finally brought him back to Windsor. “It was pins and needles,” Kennedy said. “A few months with no sleep as I took forever to make my decision, but I’m glad I took a while. It felt right when I did it and that was the biggest thing. “It was definitely a tough decision on both ends. I had two good options. Return to school or take a step forward, and I thought take a step forward would be the best decision.”
Making tough decisions is something that Kennedy has gotten use to doing. It was that way a year ago when he opted not to return to St. Joseph high school after an MVP season where he averaged 19 points and 16 rebounds a game.
He headed to London where he averaged 12.6 points and 10.1 rebounds a game while earning the academy’s 3-Tree Award for excellence on the court, in the classroom and the community. “I was giving up a lot leaving St. Joe’s,” Kennedy said. “I was very immersed. I gave that up to take major steps. A year after being at Southwest, I have zero regrets.” Long talks with his parents, older brother James and older sister Shannon helped him finally make that decision. “With all due respect to those (NCAA) guys, there wasn’t the relationship,” said Jim Kennedy, who was a three-time OUA allstar for the Lancers and helped the team to two national championship tournaments. “They’d recruit the talent and build the relationship. Here, you had the relationship and now you’ve got the talent and you’re good enough to play here now.” The younger Kennedy helped the Riverside Falcons to an Ontario Basketball title in 2017 and travelled to Italy for Canada to earn a bronze medal at the European Junior Boys’ Championship. He was also a member of Ontario’s gold-medal winning team at the Canada Games. “He’s got a good feel for the game,” Oliver said. “He shoots it well, can handle the ball, understands how to play defence and is very good in rotation and coming across and influencing shots. “He’s ready to play right away and he’s ready to impact the program right away. We think, not just as a basketball player, but as a person and as a leader, that he’s ready to step in. It’s going to fun.” For Kennedy, putting on the Lancers’ blue and gold just seemed the right fit.
“The dream situation is here,” Kennedy said. “I know exactly what I’m coming into. It’s huge to know (Oliver) and know he wants me to reach my potential. “The biggest accolade I want is to be the winningest all-time player to play in Windsor. When I was in grade school (at St. Alexander), it became a dream. I was playing in blue and gold for my grade school team. I said then, ‘If I go to St. Joe’s, I’m going to be wearing blue and gold, if I go to Windsor I’m going to be wearing blue and gold.’ I was going to be wearing blue and gold for the next 10 years (combined) and I’m perfectly OK with it.”
Tough decision on both ends. I had two good options. Return to school or take a step forward, and I thought take a step.