Tim Thomas was a major part of the most successful team in Pioneer basketball history.  Thomas came to Wayland with his head coach from Clarendon College, Mark Adams, at the beginning of the 1983-84 school year.  That season, led by Thomas’s 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, the Pioneers finished at 20-12, their best record in more than a decade.  Thomas was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and was an NAIA All-District selection.

The next year, Thomas averaged 15 points and 6.4 rebounds a contest and the Wayland men made their first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Championship Tournament.  Even better, the Pioneers went all the way to the championship game of the tourney, before falling to Fort Hays State University at the buzzer in overtime by a score of 82-80.  Thomas was named an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American, received All-District honors, and became the 18^th all-time scorer in school history with 1,111 points.  (At the time of his induction, Thomas was tied for 26^th place in Pioneer scoring.)  He shot 51 percent from the field during his senior season and recorded his career highs in points (29) and rebounds (14).

After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and Mathematics, Thomas spent the next two years as an assistant coach and physical education instructor for the Pioneers.  In 1989, he left Wayland and spent the next nine years as a collegiate assistant coach in Florida and South Texas.  He returned to the Texas Panhandle in 1997 to take over the reigns at Palo Duro High School in Amarillo.  While at PDHS, he led the Dons to a #1-state ranking, a school-best record of 32-2 during the 1998-99 season, and the first ever back-to-back 25 win seasons.  He was named District Coach of the Year for that 98-99 year and his team reached the Class 4A regional quarterfinals in consecutive years.

Thomas left Amarillo in 2000 to take over as head boy’s coach at Estacado High School in Lubbock.  He has led his teams at EHS to three straight District 4-4A Championships for which he has received District Coach of the Year honors each year.