Trevor Thompson Jr. doesn’t have a Twitter handle and no, you won’t find him on Instagram.
The Moon Valley High School senior guard is unique in the fact that he’d rather work on improving his grades and jump shot than his number of social media followers.
Thompson’s old-school priorities are simple: family, academics, basketball.
The discipline instilled in the well-balanced student-athlete, on and off the floor (3.4 grade-point-average), comes from his father Trevor Sr. who has a standout player at Bourgade Catholic High School in the 90’s. Basketball has always been a part of young Trevor’s life and his father, whose college playing career was derailed due to injury, has been there with him through the highs and the lows.
“He just told me, ‘you have to work hard, you have to go the extra mile,'” Trevor Jr. said to Sports360AZ.com of his father’s words of wisdom. “Whoever puts in the most work is ultimately going to get the most out.”
Moon Valley has reaped the rewards of Thompson’s dedication as they improved to 15-3 after their 49-46 win over Cactus Tuesday night. The Rockets have been paced all season by the four-year varsity letterman Thompson who leads MV in several statistical categories.
His biggest contributions may not be the one’s seen in the box score.
“He’s a leader by example,” head coach Matt Elliott said to Sports360AZ.com. “He doesn’t say a lot to the guys. He’s not afraid to get on one of the younger guys but at the same time he knows he better pick up his game, as well. He’s a good basketball player but he’s a better person. A real high-character kid.”
Those words are music to the ears of Trevor Sr. who has pushed his oldest son to not only become a better player, but a better person through the game of basketball.
“I tell him,” Trevor Sr. thoughtfully explained to Sports360AZ.com. “If you don’t become a professional basketball player, everything that you’ve done in all your years, you’ve built a strong work ethic and great discipline. With all that, you have those sets of skills already in you.”
Thompson Jr., who patterns his game after “The Splash Brothers” Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, has seen his scoring average climb each season with more varsity experience. His basketball evolution is part of the reason the Rockets are off to their best start since the Richard Jefferson Era and colleges are beginning to take notice of the fundamentally sound player with good basketball genes.
“Some of the junior colleges, South Mountain, Phoenix College, Cochise,” he said. “Vanguard University out in California. Arizona Christian, Utah and Sacramento State have also shown some interest.”
Regardless of where Trevor Jr.’s basketball and future life takes him, he’ll be ready for whatever challenges and potential roadblocks await.
His dad made sure of it.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
