About The McDuffie progress. (Thomson, Ga.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 2023)
www.mcduffieprogress.co &lje ItflcBuffte iProgregg Thursday, May 4, 2023 Page IB Wm Sports Thomas' 40 years of coaching highlighted in film The McDuffie Progress/Erin Burditt Mikaela Thomas, Michael Thomas, Liz Thomas, and Michael Thomas Jr. at the event on Sunday, April 30 at Thomson High School. B Y ERIN BURDITT eburditt@mcduffieprogress.com For the past four decades, only one man has led the Thomson High School boys’ basketball pro gram — Head Coach Michael Thomas. To honor that feat, his children, Michael Thomas, Jr., and Mikaela Thomas, felt something should be done to recognize that history They decided to film a docuseries entitled ‘Forty for 40: Full Court Press,’ which follows the 2021-2022 Thomson Bulldogs season when the team reached the Final Four and Thomas was selected to coach in the McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago, IL. The docuseries also digs back into his earlier career, including when he first started coaching in 1982. According to Michael Thomas Jr., the idea for the documentary came about in 2021. “My wife got pregnant with our second son,” he said. “This is coming off the heels of the Last Dance, the documentary with Michael Jordan, and I was just kind of thinking, you know, my dad, this is going to be his 40th season, the 2021-2022 season.” He said that without document ing that history, his two sons won’t get to know much about their grandfather and his accom plishments. Thomas Jr. said he wanted to create something they can remember it all through. Enter his sister, Mikaela Thomas, who has a background in media and numerous connec tions in the industry That is when they came upon the idea of creating a docuseries. The pair reached out to others in the industry and got connected with PenHaus Media Company “The idea really just started from there,” Thomas Jr. said. “Now, I will tell you, did I ever think that it was going to be this big, and that we were going to have this opportunity for this event and all this other stuff like that? No.” In reality, they were just trying to honor their father and give his two sons something to look back to see what their grandfather had done. Both Mikaela and Michael are executive producers on the docuseries, which was directed by Natina Hill. “Being an executive producer was different,” Mikaela Thomas said. “You hold a lot of responsi bility and you have to make a lot of decisions. That was kind of the difference for us because, like Michael said, I also followed the season. We were like tied into the season, so when Michael brought the idea to me, we kind of talked about it, and I was like well, we can do a documentary” She said that at the time, they didn’t know how good a season the Bulldogs were going to have. As they filmed it, they said they couldn’t believe what was hap pening. “This is probably going to end up being bigger than what we expected,” she said. “That's kind of how we ended up deciding okay maybe we should try to turn this into something that everyone can enjoy” Originally planned as some thing just for the family, it turned into something they wanted to share with the community of Thomson-McDuffie County When asked how it was to be a coach’s kid, Michael Thomas Jr. said his father has been his coach his whole life, but also his dad and his father. “There’s always a stereotype about a coach’s son or daughter and all that sort of stuff like that,” he said. “But, you know, I don’t really feed into that.” He said many of the values and morals he learned from his father he’s taken with him throughout his life. Mikaela Thomas said when it comes to being a coach’s daugh ter, she doesn’t share a passion for sports or basketball, it’s her life. “This is a part of who I am and because it is a part of who I am, like Michael said, I feel like some of those core values that he teach es on the court and at one point he taught on the field, carry over into my real life,” she said. The siblings echoed that what their father teaches his players is something they have both taken into their real lives and applied it to how they conduct themselves. “I think that my brother and I turned out pretty good,” Mikaela Thomas said. “My brother is a dentist in Cobb County. As Michael was saying, I am a digi tal content producer for the num ber one news station in the coun try here in Atlanta. So, we didn’t get here without what was taught within Thomson basket ball, and that’s just the truth of the matter.” As far as reaching out former coaches and players for input, there was a long list, according to Mikaela Thomas. She said they wound up with so much footage that it could’ve been a two- or three-hour special. Thomas Jr. said this aspect of making this docuseries was one of the most rewarding parts of the whole process. “Having some of those conversa tions with those people that had been there from the beginning, and been there before we were born, or before we could remem ber,” Thomas Jr. said. Mikaela Thomas said she origi nally met Hill, the director, a few years back. She said they reached out to Hill in June of 2021, and the director originally told them she was getting ready to sell a house and had too much going on, but Hill then reached out in August of that year to see if they still want ed to work with her. “I adored that about her because she didn’t have to circle back,” Mikaela Thomas said. “Once we actually started working together, she is the creative person. Everything that you see within the documentary while Michael and I executive produced a lot of it, we were able to say this is the story, now how can we tell it.” Mikaela Thomas said her father is also the type of person that won’t talk about what he’s done for anyone because that’s not who he is. He is a humble person. “We’re proud of him and we love him for that,” she said. Michael Thomas Jr. echoed what his sister said about their father loving to help others and being in one place for 40 plus years is unheard of nowadays. “There’s something about Thomson that he really loves,” he said. “He loves the community, he loves the kids, he loves the par ents, he loves the school system, and that’s where he’s felt at home.” Hill said she had just finished another project when she heard from Mikaela and thought the story was interesting but didn’t quite understand the full story, at first. “To be honest, when she first told me, I was like, 'Oh, this sounds really inspirational,' but I didn’t understand the full gambit of the story yet,” Hill said. After doing some research, Hill realized the impact Coach Thomas has had. “The story started to evolve even more because I realized on top of that, his commitment was bigger than basketball and being a coach,” Hill said. “It is absolutely important to Coach Thomas to have an impact on these young boys that will become young men that will last throughout their life time.” Hill said through interviewing numerous alumni, she began to understand how important the creed “SDCHW” was. The creed stands for “Self- Discipline, Concentration, Hard Work.” Hill ultimately decided to help out with the project. “The decision was great, I felt honored,” Hill said. “I just started to feel really honored to be select ed to help tell this powerful story” When it came to the creative process, Hill said it ended up being very positive. “Although I do have a produc tion company and work with their creatives, this project is a family project,” Hill said. “So, I filmed, my daughter also filmed a second camera, and then my husband was everything.” She said it was amazing to do something that’s important to her career in film and the creative See THOMAS, Page 11B The McDuffie Progress/Brian Hobbs Gabriel Stovall, John Barnett, Malique Gibbons, Kel Gibbons, Nelson Dukes, and Chuck Graham spoke during the “Bench Chat” panel. The McDuffie Progress/Brian Hobbs JaQuan Hart, Nelson Dukes, and Jahkiaus Jones were a part of “The Huddle” panel, which consisted of current players.
