Semoball

New Jackson hoop coach is familiar with (and embraces) Indians' expectations of success

New Jackson High School boys basketball coach, Dr. Kory Thoma, works with his team during a training session on Wednesday at Jackson High School in Jackson.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

When you coach an athletic team at Jackson High School, achieving success isn’t negotiable.

No one understands that better than Dr. Kory Thoma.

“I’ve been entrenched in this community my whole life,” Dr. Thoma said. “Looking at Jackson sports, the coaches have been all in all of the time.”

The 1989 Jackson graduate was hired last month to lead the Indians’ varsity boys basketball program, and he couldn’t be more embracing of the expectations that come with the position.

“How the coaches at Jackson coach the kids,” Dr. Thoma explained, “how they get involved in the community, the community expectations are high. Going forward, that is our goal, to uphold those community expectations.”

Dr. Thoma played for former Indian coach Steve Birk before matriculating to Columbia College. He not only flowed in his older brother’s (Kyle) footsteps by attending the same school, but both became legendary players at Columbia and are now in the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Dr. Thoma was an NAIA All-American on the court and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biology, which explains his emphasis on how he is going to guide the Indian student-athletes.

“I know what the expectations (at Jackson) mean,” Dr. Thoma said. “I have high expectations for the students off the court, as well. I want to develop these kids to be role models in the community. Grades need to be top-notch, your number one priority.”

Dr. Thoma has coached at the junior high levels at Jackson while guiding the freshman team last season.

He said his teams will follow certain philosophies, but in the end, “we want basketball to be fun.”

“We will play hard,” Dr. Thoma said. “We will run up and down the court at the utmost level. But you can’t have one philosophy (strategy-wise) for the whole program. You have different kids that come through the program.

“You have to set your expectations to the type of kids that you have to work with.”

In the past 12 seasons, the Indians have only had one losing season under Dr. Thoma’s predecessor, Darrin Scott.

As well, Jackson has won seven MSHSAA District titles in the past decade.

“Obviously,” Dr. Thoma said, “our football program is about as top-notch as you can get (and) everything is great at Jackson. So, when you have that breeding success in one sport, the student-athletes see that, and they want to be good at their sport, as well.

“It carries on down the line, and that is what we want to get done with the basketball program, moving forward, too.”

Dr. Thoma is a Doctor of Optometry and has been practicing since 2002. He has been a partner of Leet EyeCare since 2005.

He and his wife, Kim, have four sons, Braedon, Kolton, Easton, and Kason.

Braedon, as well as Dr. Thoma’s nephew, Judd Thoma, will each be juniors on the Indians’ roster this coming season, while Kolton, will be a sophomore.

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