By Conor Liguori '22 / Sports Information Intern
 

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- When Thomas Close of East Hampton arrived at Eastern Connecticut State University to play college basketball in the fall of 2018, the three-time first team All-State guard knew it would be difficult to immediately crack the rotation in program coming off consecutive 20-win seasons, Little East Conference championships and NCAA tournament berths.
 
 Numerous returning players and solid contributors – including five returning senior guards -- would receive the minutes Close routinely played as four-year starting point guard at East Hampton High School. For many first-year players fresh off outstanding high school careers, this would be discouraging and frustrating. Yet, the six-foot Close took the situation and made the best of it.
 
During practices at Eastern, he would try to outwork everyone in the gym, and increasingly developed an understanding of head coach Bill Geitner's style of play as the season wore on. In that first season, the minutes Close received were still minimal – he appeared in only eight of 27 games off the bench and averaged less than four minutes of time in each -- but he knew with hard work and dedication, all of that would change.
 
Fast-forward three years, three seasons, and three years of lifting weights, putting up countless shots, and sprinting up and down the court hundreds, perhaps thousands of times, and Close has turned himself into the college player he knew he could be.
 
Both on and off the court, Close has taken the extra steps to becoming a better player. "My diet has been better than ever, which I think has helped me tremendously, and also either before or after practice I will get a workout in, putting up extra game shots or even some sprints, says Close, the only four-year member of the current team which has won 11 of its last 14 after a 6-4 start and will host a first-round game of the LEC tournament as the No. 2 seed Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Geissler Gymnasium, where it has won 11 straight games and 12 of 13 this year.
 
Close has also improved his ball handling and protection. In his first starting season as a sophomore, Close turned the ball over 40 times in 600 minutes. In 810 minutes this year, he has lost possession of the ball 15 times, a tremendous leap. His assist-to-turnover ratio as a sophomore was 1.65-1. This year, it is nearly 3-to-1. He has also doubled his career scoring average this year, where he is one of the team's five double-figure scorers at 11.6 ppg.
 
Geitner has also seen growth in his veteran point guard. "As anyone gets older, you hopefully get wiser and smarter with the ball and making decisions," says the 20^th-year head coach, who has won at least 20 games in nine of the last 11 non-Covid seasons. "I think Tom was thrown into a tough situation as a sophomore, where he kind of had to be one of the primary ball handlers. [But] with the group that we have this year [which includes at least three experience point guards], he has been able to play more on the wing and off the ball, which allows him to play to his strengths. I think experience and learning from his past mistakes has helped him greatly, as well. He has been in a lot of tough Little East Conference games, so I don't think anything surprises him anymore."

Close does not mind the tough games; in fact he thrives on them. "If Division III basketball was easy, everyone would play," he points out, "so I don't take those games for granted."

"I just want to be remembered as someone who brought energy day in and day out,
was a leader for this team, and worked hard every day."        -- Thomas Close

Close has had this same mentality throughout his entire basketball career, well before he arrived at Eastern. He also accepts any role his team needs him to play. At East Hampton, Close was aggressive getting to the basket, often shooting, and making jump shots around the top of the key. In college, he has turned into one of the best three-point shooters in the Little East, and it is no surprise. Even before the ball is passed, Close can be seen getting his hands ready to catch the delivery, and feet squared up to the basket. At the top of his release, the ball flows off of his fingertips, with the perfect amount of arc that all coaches from recreational basketball preached.
 
Clearly, all the extra time and work that Close has put in shows on the basketball court, and on the stat sheet. The only player on this year's team to start all 24 games for the 17-7 Warriors (12-4 LEC), Close has hovered around 40 percent accuracy from three-point range during the 2021-22 campaign, climbing the leaderboards in the Little East. Second on the team in average minutes (33.8), Close's team-leading 62 three-pointers are more than double his combined previous three-year total and rank him fifth in the LEC in total threes and second in three-point percentage (a career-best 39.5).
 
When asked how he has made such a dramatic improvement, his answer is simple. "I just compete with myself mentally, always wanting to get better. I want to prove to myself that I can be better than last season, or even the last game. I push to be the best version of myself."
 
Although he is in his fourth season, Close plans to return next year to complete the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to Covid (the team was limited to nine games last year due to the pandemic) and to finish up his degree in Sport & Leisure Management in preparation for a potential career in coaching and athletic administration.
 
This is not only a great opportunity for him, but for the rest of the team. Close can bring a sense of leadership. Veteran players in the NBA teach rookies the ins and outs of the league, including improving their skill in practice, and outside of the gym. The same could be said for a player, and person, like Close. Not only will he be able to help the first-year players make the adjustment from high school to the college game, but he is also eager to help them in any way possible. "I am not as serious off the court; I like to crack jokes with my teammates and be there for them when they need me. I am excited to be back next year to try and win an LEC championship with those guys."
 
Geitner is also incredibly excited for his starting shooting guard to return. "Bringing back a fifth-year guy, someone who knows the expectations of the program is important, just to have the opportunity to spend time with him and watch him continue to grow is exciting for the whole staff."
 
Thomas Close is the player everyone hates to play against but loves as a teammate. He plays tough, scrappy defense, shoots the ball with great success, and is the hardest worker on the floor. During the off season, he is always in the gym putting up shots, or lifting weights.
 
"I just want to be remembered as someone who brought energy day in and day out, was a leader for this team, and worked hard every day."
 
Above and beyond his many contributions, Close has brought to the program the heart of a champion.