Coach Mike Glick of Gwynn Park High School is a very excited about how good his Yellow Jacket squad could be in 2007-2008.

Gwynn Park's Sean Thomas

After going 282-137 in 13 years at Catholic Schools Pallotti and Archbishop Spalding, Glick, in his first year at Gwynn Park, took a very young, small and inexperienced Yellow Jacket team to a 13-10 record in the competitive PG County 3A Conference.

"We were very young last year and we really didn't have much height," Coach Glick told MdVarsity.com."But we had better athletes and some really good, but inexperienced, young kids who really wanted to work hard and improve and win. We really improved as the year went on, Largo crushed us twice, by more than 30 points in the regular season, but we came back and nearly beat them in the tournament. We just got better and better. We have 99% of our scoring back from last year. The kids are really great here, we worked hard in the off-season. I think we can be pretty darn good this year."

One of the reasons for Coach Glick's optimism is 6'2" 180 pound senior guard Sean Thomas. Thomas averaged 13 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds as a junior.

"Sean plays point guard for us, but I think he'll be a 'combo guard' in college," said Coach Glick. "Sean is a really good athlete, he is skilled, and he works hard and really understands the game. He has a good mid-range game, good floor skills. He is a strong kid at 180 pounds, but he'll get stronger as he is still young. Sean is still only 6 years old. The thing he needs to work on for the next level (college) is his three-point shooting. I think he is one of the top returning guars in the area, he has a very good all around game."

Coach Glick is as high on Thomas as a person and as a student as he is on Thomas as a basketball player and college prospect. "Sean's a real good kid. He is a mature kid for his age and an unselfish player. He is a real good student. He is already an academic qualifier (for college). He has over a 900 (on his SAT) and he has a 3.7 GPA this quarter. He really is a great kid, I have enjoyed coaching him."

Coach Glick said that Thomas has received some recruiting interest and had at least one D-I college scholarship offer on the table, but that he will not be committing early to a college during the November 2007 NCAA National Letter of Intent signing period. "Sean will be signing later. He'll play his senior year and see what comes along. With his grades and already being a qualifier, he should have some good (college) options. Sean is definitely a legitimate D-I college player. I have coached a lot of D-I players, and Sean is a D-I college guard, without a doubt. He has the talent, the skills and the athletic ability, as well as the feel for the game and competitiveness.'

	Harold Washington and Sean Thomas

Coach Glick also held out the possibility of Thomas, who is still only 16 years old, taking a post-grad prep year in 2008-2009, even though he is already a full academic qualifier. "Sean is considering it (taking a prep year in 2008-2009)," said Coach Glick. "Since he is so young, he could use the year to mature more physically and work on his game for another year to get ready for college. Since he is a good student who has already qualified, he could take advantage of the new NCAA rules to take a prep year. We'll see."

A traditional prep hoops power for years in P.G. County and the state of Maryland for many years under Glick's predecessor Steve Matthews, the Yellow Jackets were "regulars" at Maryland State Final Fours at Cole Field House and the Comcast Center dating back to the 1990's.

With Sean Thomas and a talented core of returning players, Coach Glick might get his fast-rebuilding Gwynn Park program back to the State Tournament in College Park sooner than later.

MdVarsity.com will be tracking Sean Thomas and the Yellow Jackets in 20072008.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: To see James Quinn's 2006-2007 "In the Gym" Article on the Gwynn Park HS team and his prior "In the Gym" Player Profile on Sean Thomas, see the MdVarsity.com/DCMETROHOOPS.NET "In the Gym" Archives)