By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

RESERVE — After becoming the first athlete in East St. John history to be named to the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s All-State team four times, it’s no wonder that senior point guard Mechel’le Thomas isn’t through with her basketball career just yet.

After committing to play at Trinity Valley Community College this past season, Thomas made it official on Monday, signing a full athletic scholarship to attend the school.

“It feels real good just to know that I’m going to college and I’ll still be playing basketball,” said Thomas, who was named St. John Parish’s girls basketball Most Valuable Player by L’Observateur.

Thomas averaged 25.8 points, five assists, three steals and 2.2 rebounds a game this past season. She turned the ball over only once a game. Thomas has won 103 games as a starter in her career at ESJ, where she finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer.

She came to the decision to attend Trinity Valley after visiting the school’s campus.

“I liked what I saw,” Thomas said. “I really liked the coaches, how disciplined they make things, how their team plays. I really liked everything.”

Trinity Valley has five national championships in the last 15 seasons, including titles in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2004. It’s located in Athens, Texas — not far outside of Dallas.

East St. John coach Troy Giordano says that Thomas couldn’t have made a better choice.

“It’s the top junior college program in America,” he said. “They’ve got a great history of point guard play. Every point guard that plays there moves on to play college ball.

“At every practice, 20-30 college coaches are going to be there. She’s going to be seen.”

Giordano cited Tennessee point guard Shannon Bobbitt and Florida point guard Lonnika Thompson as players who moved from Trinity Valley into the SEC in the past few seasons. Giordano, who had already seen a number of his players move on to play at the next level, says days like Monday wrap up one of his favorite parts of coaching.

“The actual coaching’s a pain in the butt. This is the fun part for me,” Giordano said. “They give you four years of hard work, and you want to be able to repay them by helping them get an opportunity like this.

“The number one thing is she has the opportunity to go attend college and get an education for free. I’m proud of her and I’m happy for her family.”