This story originally appeared in the Dec. 22 edition of the weekly LINK Reader. To get these stories first, subscribe here.
You would think a left-handed, 6-foot-7, 215-pound high school senior basketball player capable of scoring 50 points and grabbing 25 rebounds in a game would boast a sleigh full of college offers by Christmas.
You would think by now college basketball coaches clamoring for capability and character might have contacted a player like Villa Madonna Academy’s Henry Thole and gift-wrapped a welcoming overture to their program.
Think again.
Thole, who last season scored a school single-game record 50 points against Robertson County and grabbed 24 rebounds against North College Hill, was still awaiting his first official college offer with several shopping days left before Christmas.
Like a brand-new toy in the back of the window that the market doesn’t yet fully understand, Thole is looming large as someone’s next recruiting find.
“He’s got to be the biggest unknown gem in Northern Kentucky,” said Villa Madonna coach Trevor Gould, who sends video highlights of Thole to college programs. “He can play at all three levels on offense. He can shoot. He can pass. He can defend any player, rebound and block shots. We use his length to stop a hot hand. He has a lot of what you’re looking for.”
What Thole doesn’t have is a college destination. The future is unknown, despite season averages of nearly 19 points and 14 rebounds per game after the first two weeks of play, pushing his career totals beyond 1,150 points and 650 rebounds. The forward averaged 22.2 points and 11.6 rebounds last season while earning local all-conference honors.
“It’s a little frustrating, but I’m not going to sit around,” Thole said. “I’m going to keep working on things, and hopefully something will happen.”
Thole has a history of taking matters into his own hands when matters are moving too slow. He’s done that for 14 years, the span of his entire basketball-playing days, a career he wants to extend as long as possible.
When Thole wasn’t shooting well from the free throw line, he shot more free throws. When he wasn’t hitting jumpers with regularity, he worked on shot delivery. When he struggled inside, he came up with new post moves. When he felt like he was getting pushed around, he got stronger.
When he believed his defense needed improvement, he tightened up his footwork. When he got boxed out on rebounds, he worked on technique.
In Thole’s mind, if you can’t change the things around you, then change the things around you.
He started playing more offseason basketball with better players. He wound up with Moss Elite, a Northern Kentucky club team. He sought individualized instruction from new sources. He welcomed input from new coaches. He started keeping a basketball in his car, just in case he saw an empty court on a nearby playground. Soon, he had three basketballs in his car.
When Thole realized he needed to challenge himself academically, he talked to his parents about attending a private school. He wound up at Villa Madonna Academy, recognized as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.
Gould believes if there is one Villa Madonna Viking capable of taking the bull by the horns and bending things to his will, it’s Thole, a well-rounded student-athlete with a 3.87 weighted grade-point average and ample imagination to create something out of nothing.
But even the coach was surprised when he found out Thole had a radical idea for a new creation to jumpstart the recruiting process: Henrythole.com.
“It’s his own website,” Gould said. “He puts up game links and videos and updates his bio. It’s pretty neat, but he’s much better in person. That’s why recruiters need to come see him.”
Thole lists honors, awards, statistics and the Villa Madonna basketball schedule on his website. He encourages viewers to follow him on social media and invites them to contact him. He’s hoping some of those folks are college coaches hoping to attend a Villa Madonna contest.
“Come see me at our next game!” Thole writes on his site. “Drop me a line.”
Fellow team co-captain Tommy Wenning is used to having his mind blown by his talented buddy, but the website floored him.
“It’s insane he doesn’t have any offers. He should’ve had them a long time ago,” Wenning said. “It’s amazing the way he’s taken the initiative on it, though. I mean, his own website? Hopefully, he gets what he wants.”
Thole’s effort, including his play, appears to be gaining traction on the recruiting trail. This month, Prephoops.com designated him one of 13 additions to its list of top players in Kentucky. Thomas More University began showing him interest, adding to a short list of interested programs including Centre College, Kentucky Christian, Kalamazoo College and Trevecca Nazarene.
“We’re doing all we can to help him out,” Gould said. “But he’s doing a lot, too.”