By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After putting together a legendary four-year high school career for Topeka High, Ky Thomas' college career took him to Minnesota, Kansas and, most recently, Kent State, with Thomas enjoying varying degrees of success at all three Division I schools.
Topeka High legendary tailback Ky Thomas is set for his final collegiate football season at Washburn. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But now the 5-foot-11, 205-pound tailback is back in the city where it all started, playing for the hometown Washburn Ichabods, and he couldn't be happier.
"I'm definitely excited to get going, especially now that we're putting on the pads,'' Thomas said following Thurday's Washburn practice in Yager Stadium. "Everybody's excited.''
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.
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 spent the past two seasons at Kent State. Thomas had to sit out the 2023 season due to a now-abolished NCAA transfer rule before leading the Golden Flashes in rushing last fall 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 games, and Thomas re-entered the transfer portal following the season and eventually decided that it was time to come home.
"It's been great,'' said Thomas, who earned his bachelor's degree in professional studies at Kent State and is working on his master's degree in education at Washburn. "As far as the coaches and my teammates around me, everybody's been real welcoming. It's a real family environment.
"Just getting in the weight room and getting to know the coaches, everything's just been great as far as just getting in here and joining everybody and getting along.''
First-year Washburn head coach Zach Watkins said that Thomas, whose father, Tobian, played for the Ichabods, has been everything he could have hoped for.
"Ky came in and has been nothing but professional in his approach from Day 1 in the way he transferred to us and his work ethic and his leadership and his ability from where he's been and what he's learned from that,'' Watkins said.
"It's been incredible, so I think he's going to have a tremendous year because of the work and the effort that he's put in since he's been here.''
Now Thomas just wants to do everything he can to help the Ichabods mount a major turnaround from a 3-8 season in 2024.
"Especially this last year, being back home and getting to play in my home city, it feels like I've got something to prove for sure,'' Thomas said.
