By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even the casual local football fan knows the name Ky Thomas, but it may have been awhile since you've heard as much about the former Topeka High legend.
Former Topeka High superstar running back Ky Thomas is back home for his final collegiate season, transferring to Washburn University. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
That will change this fall, with the 6-foot, 200-pound running back coming home to play his final collegiate season for Zach Watkins' Ichabods after previous stops at Minnesota, Kansas and, most recently, Kent State
"It feels good, it feels great,'' Thomas told TopSports.news. "Coach Watkins, speaking to him and seeing his vision that he had for this offseason and the season and for me moving forward and everything he has planned, it was easy to trust and easy to come back home and be a part of this.''
A 2020 Topeka High graduate, Thomas finished his prep football career for the Trojans in 2019 as the city's all-time rushing leader and the No. 2 rusher in state history with 7,703 yards, including 3,009 yards as a senior, when he was named the Gatorade Player of the Year.
Thomas began his college career at Minnesota, where as a redshirt freshman he led the Gophers with 824 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 166 carries and capped his Minnesota career with 144 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, earning offensive most valuable player honors in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix.
Former Kansas running back Ky Thomas scored a pair of TDs in the 2022 Liberty Bowl. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
Thomas then transferred to Kansas for the 2022 season, rushing for 162 yards and two touchdowns on 53 carries while catching five passes for 39 receiving yards and a TD. Thomas scored two touchdowns, on a 29-yard pass reception and a 2-yard run, in Kansas’ 55-53 triple-overtime loss to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.
After re-entering the transfer portal, Thomas has spent the past two seasons at Kent State.
Ky Thomas led Kent State in rushing by more than 400 yards this past fall before transferring to Washburn. [Kent State Athletics]
Thomas had to sit out the 2023 season due to a now-abolished NCAA transfer rule before leading the Golden Flashes in rushing by more than 400 yards with 549 yards and a TD on 135 carries (4.1 average).
But Kent State suffered through an 0-12 campaign with just two single-digit outcomes and Thomas entered the transfer portal following the season.
"It was time to go,'' he said. "It was a journey in those two years there. I'm grateful for the experience and everything that happened, but there was a lot going on and I just felt that exploring my options would be what was best for my future.''
After looking at those options, the 23-year-old Thomas said Washburn was an easy choice.
"It definitely was,'' he said. "Talking to coach Watkins and even the other coaches on the staff, as he slowly started to bring them in, it just felt easy and like it was the right thing to do. Everything that he preached seemed to follow through as the recruitment process went on and as I saw more and more coaches coming in, so it felt good to be back for sure.''
Thomas earned his bachelor's degree in professional studies at Kent State and is working on his master's degree in education at Washburn
Thomas' father, Tobian, played at Washburn and Ky said the entire Thomas family is thrilled with his decision.
"They're excited that I'm back home for sure,'' Thomas said. "When I entered the portal I had opportunities to go elsewhere, but it just felt right being here at home for this last year and regardless of the level -- D-I, D-II -- I felt that Washburn had everything that I needed to take that next step and move forward.''
And although Thomas didn't foresee all the twists and turns his college career has taken, he feels like all's well that ends well.
"Of course there's some things looking back you would say you would do differently, but now going through all of it and the experiences and the lessons that I was able to learn and the people I was able to meet and just the different challenges you have to face and overcome, I would say it's all part of the plan,'' he said. "All of this, especially coming back home for the last year, I feel like it's got to be part of the plan. It only feels right.
"Being in Topeka and getting a fresh start, I'm ready to get after it and attack each workout and attack each day and get better to be able to go out there and perform the way you want to perform this last year. As far as playing style and how I play I don't think it's ever left. The opportunities have been here and there throughout my career, but now, this last year, I'm just trying to put it all out on the line and put my best foot forward.''
