Sad news: Daryl Thomas has died of a heart attack at 52 years old. His family must be shocked and devastated
Daryl Thomas
- Thread starter minneman
- Start date
Holy crap... sad news. Love guys like him who left it all on the court without all the showy crap. Always seemed like a great teammate to me. Thanks for all the memories Daryl and condolences to his family.
You beat me to it,I was just about to post this,such a shame. Gone way too soon,may he RIP
Yes, very sad. When we get into our 50's it is not automatic we are going to live to 90. May God be with his family and friends as they grieve.
Very sad news. Daryl was a great person. I lived on the same floor with him during junior and senior year. Just tragic for his family.
Loved how Darryl played and he had some of the best low post moves around the basket.
Daryl Thomas takes the floor one last time...
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snowling
Hall of Famer
God is building one heck of a team up there and today he recruited a champion. RIP Daryl . . . always a HOOSIER!!!
DT was A real good dude. Was very pleasant on my couple interactions with him.
In '85-'86 season he had to play Center at 6'7". Had great post moves and turned himself into a great defender having to play against bigger guys. His first couple yrs were injury-plagued. His last 2 yrs were terrific.
RIP DT.
In '85-'86 season he had to play Center at 6'7". Had great post moves and turned himself into a great defender having to play against bigger guys. His first couple yrs were injury-plagued. His last 2 yrs were terrific.
RIP DT.
Terrible news. IMO, unsung hero of the 87 ship. We don't sniff the final 4 without DT on the team. Great low post player. Soft spoken kid playing for RMK was not easy for him but he fought through it and had a great career.
He & Garrett fought a war in that Regional final game vs LSU against Jose Vargus and Nakita Wilson. The lane was a man's world in that game. Fearsome crap going on near the basket.
Godspeed DT and prayers to his family in an incredibly difficult time.
He & Garrett fought a war in that Regional final game vs LSU against Jose Vargus and Nakita Wilson. The lane was a man's world in that game. Fearsome crap going on near the basket.
Godspeed DT and prayers to his family in an incredibly difficult time.
He was one of the more underrated players for his time at IU. A key component and instrumental for the championship team in '87. For those that never saw him play, he had more moves in the lane, than a lot of the pros do today.
That is sad news. I graduated in 1983 and I was an officer in the Navy in 1987 stationed on a ship in Hawaii. I left the ship early on the day IU won the 1987 national championship so I could hear it live on the radio. As it often happens on a ship, I couldn't quite get off it as early as I wanted, but I left enough to get the entire second half on the radio in my car. I had parked in the parking garage of the high rise I lived in with just a few minutes left in the game so I had to stay there to listen to the end of the game and not miss anything. When Daryl passed the ball to Keith and he hit the shot I was jumping up and down outside my car, in uniform. A few others there saw me and looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care at all. In Hawaii at that time they always showed the game tape delayed and I had a party that night and didn't let on that I knew the final score to not ruin it for those that didn't. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it actually looked exactly like I imagined it did when listening to the radio. Keith made the shot, but Daryl allowed it to happen with his pass and screen. He's an IU great and he's been a great person since. We'll miss Daryl Thomas.
Maybe the most underrated . Wonder if Coach Knight has spoken about this ?
snowling
Hall of Famer
DT was the only player to play every second of the ‘87 title game and outscored and outplayed Rony Seikaly.
But quietly one of the biggest plays of the game was DT not fouling Seikaly with IU down one with 30 seconds left. You could even hear Alford yell “foul him Daryl” but he didn’t. And IU sent a much worse shooting Derrick Coleman to the line.
That ‘87 team brought so much happiness to me, still does. It’s sad to hear this news.
But quietly one of the biggest plays of the game was DT not fouling Seikaly with IU down one with 30 seconds left. You could even hear Alford yell “foul him Daryl” but he didn’t. And IU sent a much worse shooting Derrick Coleman to the line.
That ‘87 team brought so much happiness to me, still does. It’s sad to hear this news.
Daryl Thomas personified everything that was great about Indiana basketball on that team. When Knight was upset with him he didn't pout he didn't yell he didn't lower his head. He just went back to work did his job and ended up a national champion .
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I'll remember Daryl as the perfect example of an IU basketball player. Team first attitude. Substance over style. Winner.
RIP DT
RIP DT
Knight broke him down and built him up and it paid off. Thomas was the one that Knight put Kotex in his locker because he said he was a pussy, per Season on the Brink. Not defending Knight, but Thomas sure wasn't soft his senior year, and he was as much responsible for the Championship as any of the others that get credit for that tournament run.
Dean Garret played a few years in the NBA. Alford played four years. Neither were stars, but they played.
Yeah I had forgotten Garret actually did OK for a bit never remember Alford actually playing
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