Iowa State’s Matt Thomas fighting through bone spurs

AMES - No matter which way he moves, Iowa State guard Matt Thomas feels the pain.

The 6-foot-5, 193-pound senior has dealt with everyday basketball injuries in the past like bumps, bruises and sprained ankles, but nothing as nagging as his latest ailment - bone spurs.

'For me it's all about mindset and mentally being able to try to block out what I'm dealing with in my injury right now,” Thomas said. 'It's going to be best for me moving forward and playing with a clear mind.”

Bone spurs, Thomas was told, are something that develop in many athletes over time and are eventually triggered by something. His was triggered when he planted his foot in a specific way against Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 20. With 10 days separating games, Thomas was hoping some rest would relieve the pain.

'I came back after Christmas break and it was still kind of nagging pain,” Thomas said. 'Then that first conference game against (Texas Tech) it really lit up and I couldn't run on it. Since then we've been giving it a lot more treatment and I'm taking medicine to relieve the pain and just maintain it like I said. It's been working so far.”

Despite the pain, Thomas hasn't missed a start this season. He's averaging 11.4 points with 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He's averaging 33 minutes in the last three games and is fresh off scoring 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting - 4-for-9 from 3 - at Oklahoma State.

'Matt was big for us,” said Iowa State men's basketball coach Steve Prohm. 'He made big 3s in the first half (against Oklahoma State) and made a couple big 3s in the second half. He stayed the course fighting through some adversity with his injuries, even going through some games where he misses some open shots.

'I thought he played with great confidence (Wednesday) and made big, big plays for us.”

Perhaps the toughest thing on Thomas through this stretch has been sitting out of practice. In his four years at Iowa State, teammates can't recall a time - before December - when Thomas missed a practice for any reason.

Now that he's sidelined from most on-court work, Thomas makes sure he's in constant view of practice from a stationary bike working on his cardio. He's also spent time on an underwater treadmill and various other recovery methods assigned by the training staff.

'He's a soldier and that's why we rely on him as one of our seniors to lead when we need him to lead and he definitely did that (Wednesday),” said guard Naz Mitrou-Long.

Thomas' bone spur is something that is likely to stick with him all year, but isn't something he's letting affect his game. He never had conversations with anybody about sitting out a few games, and knew his tolerance for pain would be just as strong as his will to be an on-court contributor.

'I've been really blessed when it comes to injuries and playing injury-free my career here,” Thomas said. 'This is a minor injury right now that I'm dealing with and I'm just trying to stay positive when it comes to that.”

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