Wednesday, May 7, 2003 | 9:38 a.m.
Derek Thomas was in a junior college gym in Illinois for 15 or 20 minutes last week when the team's coach halted a workout.
His players had been lethargically going through the motions.
"The guys weren't playing real hard," Thomas said, "so the coach made them stop in the middle of the floor, and he said, 'There's a Division I coach here, so if you're not gonna ... ' I thought, 'Who's he talkin' about? Oh, me!'
"It hasn't totally sunk in. That was the first time I really, actually thought, 'Dang, I guess I am here. I am a head coach.' That was kind of nice."
Thomas, who assisted UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour the past two seasons in his third stint on a Spoonhour staff, became a head coach for the first time when he was given the top job at Western Illinois April 21.
He spent the weekend in Las Vegas, wrapping up some personal matters, and left Tuesday for Illinois from McCarran International Airport.
Thomas, 36, will return at the end of the month, then drive his wife, Julie, and their three daughters to Macomb, Ill., for good. Julie is pregnant with the couple's first son. Their home here sold in three days.
Spoonhour and Thomas had lunch Monday, when they cleared a spot in the UNLV schedule for Western Illinois to play the Rebels in the Thomas & Mack Center next season.
"Another thing we talked about was implementing what you want to get done, and getting it done right away, that discipline, and how to do things on and off the floor," Thomas said. "And to be organized and prepared. That's what I've taken from him.
"He's excited. My success is his success, that's the way I look at it."
Kansas coach Roy Williams, Florida coach Billy Donovan and former Atlanta Hawks coach Lon Kruger made calls to the Western Illinois hierarchy on Thomas' behalf.
Those influences helped, but Thomas took care of the most important factor when he repeatedly told Dr. Tim Van Alstine, the Leathernecks' director of athletics, how much he wanted the job.
Thomas said he promised no quick fix that would produce a flash program that would crumble within two years. He wants to establish a strong foundation with his rich Midwest recruiting ties, and he hopes to do that within three years.
Over the past three seasons, Western Illinois has gone 24-60 and 11-33 in the Mid-Continent Conference.
"The first thing you have to do is get losing out of their minds," Thomas said. "I have to come in and instill a winner's attitude, how we'll get things done, and be positive. I think I've seen a change already."
The Leathernecks' leading scorer, swingman J.D. Summers, returns for his senior year after averaging 12.6 points. But the eligibility of the team's top rebounder (Luis Rivas II) and point guard (Matt Robins) have expired.
"I'm an up-tempo guy, and that's what I've tried to install the last couple days I was there," Thomas said. "I want to see what skills they have, then see where my strengths and weaknesses are. But we won't just rip and run, just to run.
"I want to play up-tempo, but I want to slow it down when we play a defensive team. If your team can't execute in the half-court, you'll have trouble."
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