USD’s Thomas Has No Doubt : College basketball: The Toreros’ leading rebounder is intense on the court and warm, giving person off the court.

Ask Pat Holbert or Dondi Bell or any other University of San Diego basketball player about Anthony Thomas, and they immediately get this mischievous look as if the guy just pulled one of the greatest practical jokes on them.

They pause for a moment, perhaps cautiously contemplating what to say about their 6-foot-4, 210-pound friend, then speak of an enormously intense and gifted athlete.

Anthony Thomas, friend, and Anthony Thomas, basketball player, are two extremely different people.

Thomas, the person, is kind and gentle with a jovial side to him that would make even Tom Landry laugh aloud.

Thomas, the player, is all business and the Toreros’ leading rebounder and second-leading scorer.

He wears a look on the court as if he just murdered someone . . . or would like to. His attitude matches his look.

“He told me one time,” Bell said, “ ‘We’re the best of friends, but on the court, I’m going to try to kill you.’ That’s the way he has to be. He’s a competitor. He hates to lose. And when we do lose, he’s agitated for days.”

Said Holbert, “It’s his common expression on the court. And when he has that look, he’s serious business. Off the court, he’s completely different. He’s a nice guy. He’d give you anything he had if you asked for it.

“It’s instinctive. I don’t think he’s trying to prove a point or anything. That’s just the way he is.”

Thomas chuckled when asked about his dual personality.

“I go through a transformation before the game,” he said. “I know I have to act one way on the court to be a good player. I have to have that game face on to get me in the mood.

“Off the court, I can just be myself.”

On and off the court, Thomas is a joy to watch and be around.

He leads USD in rebounding (5.7 per game) and free-throw percentage (.833), is second in scoring (13.2) behind Holbert (14.2) and third in field-goal percentage (.527).

Off the court, he is indeed amiable, and his deep baritone voice should do him well when he graduates this spring with a degree in communications.

“He’s just a great guy to be around,” said Bell, who has roomed with Thomas for 2 1/2 years. “He really enjoys life. He’s a great roommate. He’s not the cleanest person around, but that’s all right.”

Thomas is also a team leader, although a quiet one. After last season, his first at USD after transferring from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College and redshirting the 1988-89 season, he won the Toreros’ leadership award.

“If you could see him in practice every day,” Coach Hank Egan said, “you’d learn to love Anthony Thomas. He’s an absolutely fierce competitor, and he’s a lot of fun to coach. He makes us a better ball club in ways people in the stands will never even know. He’s an absolute warrior.”

Said Thomas, “When I do something good, I believe there’s a chain reaction. It somehow makes the other players play harder. That’s one of my positive aspects. I believe I can go out and make somebody want to play harder. I have to do more of that.

“I have to play the leadership role. I want to be in that role. Somebody has to do it, and I’m capable of doing it, so why shouldn’t it be me?”

By the same token, Thomas added, “When I start joking around, everybody else wants to joke around. You’ve got to have a balance. You can be serious, and you can joke around, but you’ve got to know when to do it.”

When . . . and at what volume.

As roommates and music lovers, Thomas and Bell have been known to crank up the volume on their stereos, at times simultaneously, just to annoy one another.

“I would say I play my music louder than him,” Bell said. “But who can really tell? We have had several complaints from the neighbors, but we haven’t been kicked out yet.”

Born and reared in Waterloo, Iowa, Thomas is frequently on the receiving end of jabs from Bell and their other roommates, Ray Witt and Joe Temple, who are from California.

“We all know California is the best place to live,” Bell said. “And Waterloo is just a hick corn town in a small corner of Iowa.”

Waterloo is also where Thomas developed into a three-sport star.

In football, he was an all-state running back and led Waterloo High to a second-place finish in the state playoffs his junior year. Teammates called him Stone.

In track and field, he finished third in the state in the 200-meter dash his senior year. In basketball, he averaged 21 points and six rebounds and was all-state.

Unfortunately, the high jump was not in his repertoire.

“He really gets up,” Holbert said. “It’s amazing. It doesn’t take him that long to get up in the air. Before you know it, he’s slamming one down.”

Temple, a sophomore redshirt from Lincoln High who is just a tad shorter than Thomas, cleared 6-6 in the high jump in high school and is widely known for his leaping ability.

So who jumps higher?

“I think Joe has unlimited leaping ability,” Holbert said, “but I don’t think he gets up as quickly as A.T.”

Thomas gives the edge to Temple, but added, “It’s not how high I get up, but how quickly I get there. That’s always been one of my strengths.”

Because of that tremendous leaping ability, Thomas has been able to play forward despite being shorter than the man he covers nearly every game.

But the way he plays defense--exceptionally in the Toreros’ man-to-man scheme--one hardly notices the height differential. Thomas is also second on the team in steals and has the fewest fouls of any regular.

Perhaps opponents are too keyed into that menacing look. After all, driving against Thomas could mean putting your life on the line. At least he likes to make it look that way.