Culture change, leadership bring Thoma’s Indians to the big stage

The season didn’t end in raising a state championship plaque, but the Jackson boys’ basketball team made significant strides in the first year under coach Kory Thoma.

For the first time since 1934, the team returned to the state final four, traveling to Springfield to play in the state semifinal and the ensuing third-place game.

“It was everything and more,” Thoma said. “It was a great experience for the kids, for the town. We had some rough games but, you know, we got there and this group of kids pretty special.”

The hand that Thoma received this past offseason held a lot of talent but needed to be fashioned together and made into a cohesive unit in order to make moves in the postseason.

Thoma wanted to make a culture change in the Indians’ locker room. He wanted to turn the team into a group of winners, with a new culture that worked toward inciting the winning mentality and having high expectations – shooting as high as the state championship during the offseason.

“I wanted to come in and change the culture a little bit,” Thoma said. “I wanted to have them experience what my culture would look like and what my expectations look like.

“The underclassmen getting to the final four in my first year and having the leadership of these seniors, it shows the path and it opens the path up,” Thoma said. “We’re gonna have to have these juniors step up because I had some very vocal leaders in the seniors. And, you know, those were my expectations.”

Thoma knew the contents of this hand well, however, from past coaching experience and knew that the senior class had the makings of great leaders.

“I was telling this guy in a meeting room the other day: I took Steven Schneider to the second-grade AAU national championships,” Thoma said. “So you know, I know these kids and helped coach them for several years. I knew Grant and Kaed.

“I even had one time when coach [Reagan] McDowell was out in eighth grade. I got to coach him for one game in eighth grade when I was in seventh-grade coach. So, you know, I've been around these kids for a really long time. I knew they were special. I knew that I knew their work ethic.”

With the season ending with the Indians taking back-to-back losses in Springfield, emotions swelled following the conclusion of the third-place game in the locker room.

Thoma notes that he considered the first year to be a major success toward establishing his culture and forming a family on the court and that the scene behind closed doors played a big role in preparing the underclassmen for the future.

“It was truly emotional from the players and the coaches,” Thoma said. “It was good to have the underclassmen see that. You know, after months of sweat and tears, it kind of opened up.

“What I told them is ‘Hey, this is what family and culture looks like. With as much work ethic as you guys had, it's okay to do this.’ And, so, I was proud of them.”