SPORTS Nothing but flowers
Former Lew Wallace boys basketball coach Renaldo Thomas, who passed away on May 26, was an unforgettable character
When Renaldo Thomas stopped returning my calls in October, I knew it wasn’t good.
Thomas was a no-text, no-email, old-school, flip-phone guy. He didn’t have voicemail.
He would either pick up or call back after seeing the number flash across his screen.
Thomas wasn’t comfortable with technology, but I also learned over the years this was a strategic advantage for “Nady,” as his friends called him.
He wanted to connect. Always.
There was never a five-minute conversation with Thomas. It was more like a 55-minute minimum.
He was all-in on every interaction.
That was who he was.
Life was a game for Thomas, and if he wasn’t trying to beat you on the court, he was trying to win you over.
I represented something important to Thomas, a former Roosevelt basketball star. I was the high school basketball writer for his hometown paper when he was coaching at Lew Wallace.
I was “his guy,” although I’m certain Thomas had dozens of guys.
Covering him could be uncomfortable. Sometimes I avoided picking up the phone because I felt like he wanted something I couldn’t deliver. Other times I just didn’t have the energy to talk. A conversation with him could be exhausting.
Two things became apparent as I got to know him better.
As a basketball coach, he craved respect that he felt like he didn’t get.
And he was the ultimate Gary insider. Thomas knew which coach was going to get hired and fired before it happened. He was the fabric of the city.
In retrospect, taking Lew Wallace to the 2010 Class 3A state championship game was a great coaching performance. I didn’t realize it then.
Before that season, the Hornets hadn’t
won a regional title since 1996. Michigan State recruit Branden Dawson was extraordinary — the best high school rebounder I’ve covered — but Thomas had to manage him.
It wasn’t always easy.
It was infinitely harder to coach basketball at a Gary school than to coach at other schools. Some kids needed rides home. Maintenance and equipment, like basketballs and uniforms, frequently were an issue. Administrative support was meager compared to suburban schools.
Thomas was motivated by the lack of resources. He’d tell me if he didn’t do it himself, like mopping the gym floor, it wouldn’t get done. He was right.
When he was fired from Lew Wallace, it hurt him deeply.
Thomas always was pushing the boundaries of what he could get from players, administrators, reporters — whomever he felt he needed.
I told him he had been fired from Lew Wallace after the job was posted. He likely already knew or knew it was coming, but he didn’t want to concede it on the spot. Thomas was out of town when it happened, and he said he wanted to hear it firsthand from David Mitchell, the athletic director at the time.
This was my first paragraph when Thomas was fired: “The sometimes torturous, never dull, frequently controversial and rollicking tenure of Renaldo Thomas ended quietly last week when city athletic director Earl Smith, following orders from
Lew Wallace Principal Lucille Upshaw, posted an opening for its boys basketball coach.”
All of it was true.
Thomas was never the same after he lost the Lew Wallace job. He was hired at Roosevelt, but the school was in a constant state of instability when a for-profit company took over. He lasted a year.
Thomas tried to reinvent himself as a basketball trainer, working with young kids on their skills. It fit him, but he craved the spotlight. You could tell something was missing.
His friend Najee Ali said Gary made Thomas and broke Thomas.
“Returning to Gary led to his early demise,” Ali said. “He couldn’t live up to his own lofty expectations. He died of a broken heart.”
Thomas and I talked about once a month after he left for Houston. It was better this way. He’d update me on his daughters. I’d tell him about my kids. During the basketball season, he’d ask about the best local players and teams. We were friends.
I heard in December that he was critically ill and might not make it. He got sick in October.
He fought hard for more than six months, which was to be expected. Thomas died May 26 of complications from diabetes.
I miss the monthly phone calls.
I’m sure, though, that Thomas would be happy, knowing he’s finally getting his due.