Thomas Britt - The Complete Student Athlete

By Christine Manning

The term and the idea of the "complete student athlete" has been widespread and in use for years in Kentuckiana high schools. It usually describes a male or female athlete excelling in the classroom as well as on the sports field or court. What continues to be even more challenging is, when that particular student-athlete can continue their education and sports involvement beyond the high school level.

It isn't easy, it isn't common and most of the time a true student-athlete makes the decision to give up the sport or sports they love to put their college education first. If and when college athletics fall into place somewhere along the way, that's just an added bonus.

For Thomas Britt, a senior at St. Francis De Sales High School, the decision to pursue his love of basketball to the next level or attend a university where he can become an engineer is pending.

For Britt, athletics and academics have always come hand-in-hand and he has never really been forced to give up one sport over another or sacrifice his classroom habits. He is president of his senior class at the all-male De Sales and has a 4.0 GPA. He has had the highest academic average each year of eligibility (9th, 10th and 11th grades) overall and in nearly every subject at school, including astronomy, religion, English and math.

He is the middle of Mark and Denise Britt's three sons and began playing basketball at age 5 with his father, a Western High School graduate, coaching him at Metro Parks leagues in Louisville's South End neighborhood.

He is considering attending the Universities of Louisville and Kentucky , Auburn University and St. Louis University . None of those schools has made him an offer to play basketball. Two of the smaller schools he is considering are Centre College in Danville and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana . Both of the smaller schools are NCAA Division III members and are offering Britt opportunities to play basketball.

Outside of the classroom, Britt has excelled on both the soccer field and basketball court. This past fall, he was named captain and most valuable player of the Colts soccer team, which won the district, region and sub-section the past two seasons before losing to eventual state champion St. Xavier both years in the state playoffs. He was named Second Team All-State by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association in 2003 and awarded the De Sales Soccer Scholar/Athlete award. He has been a varsity letter winner for both soccer and basketball all four years of high school.

As he introduced Britt at the school's sports banquet, soccer coach Neil Schulten said that if Britt would have continued to play club soccer during his high school years, instead of quitting to concentrate on summer basketball, he might have been the best player in the state by his senior year. When Britt did play competitive travel soccer, he played for Mockingbird Valley and United clubs, winning a state title with United in 2000. That same year his eighth grade basketball team at St. Thomas More Catholic School won the city championship.

"I really couldn't have done travel soccer and stayed competitive at the basketball level I wanted to play at," Britt said. "Usually, summer basketball would end around August 25 and I would have to be at De Sales soccer training the next day."

In basketball, the Colts have always had a pretty tough district and region to keep up with, including rivalries with Pleasure Ridge Park and Iroquois. Britt said he waited patiently his freshman and sophomore years to assume the role he has today with the team as the leading scorer.

"My junior year we had a really good team and lost in the last second to Iroquois, missing out on the sweet sixteen. It was my job that season to get the ball to other players to shoot," he explained. Assisting that season was his specialty as he racked up 133 of them but also had an 86 percent free-throw average and was team leader in charges taken.

"He has been waiting for this season for a long time," Colts basketball coach, Tom Crews, said. "He has perfected his perimeter shot and as the team leader, he now has the freedom to do what he thinks is right on the court. There is no doubt in my mind that Thomas could play in college, but would especially contribute at least at the Division II level. He has the whole package that a college coach is looking for. I don't know if I could think more highly of him."

As of the beginning of 2004, the Colts are ranked sixth in the LIT rankings, the highest since Britt has been a student there. So far in his senior season, he has come through for his team, including helping them take second place in the large Bryan Station tournament and losing a close game with number-one ranked Mason County. Britt's personal best this season has been a 29-point losing effort against PRP early in the season.

"We will meet them (PRP) again, and things will hopefully go better for us. We plan on getting to Lexington this year and then once we get there, we're gonna make something happen," Britt claims.

Christine Manning is a contributing writer for Kentuckiana HealthFitness Magazine. She is a graduate of Texas A & M with a degree in journalism and also has a master's degree in English.