Photo by: AJ Henderson / Georgia Southern
Constance Thomas' Basketball Journey Comes Full Circle
2/20/2024 2:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
An early love of basketball set the Eagles' senior point guard on her journey, eventually leading her to Statesboro
STATESBORO - Playing basketball since the age of four, Constance "CeCe" Thomas fell in love with the game at an early age. The Georgia Southern senior guard is the daughter of two collegiate athletes and has been with the Eagles since 2021.
As the daughter of Liron Thomas, who played football at Auburn University, and Brande Moore, who played both basketball and volleyball at Alcorn State, CeCe had a slightly different childhood growing up.
"It was competitive! I have two younger brothers, one of them plays at NC State," CeCe said. "It was a lot of motivation growing up and (they used to) give us stories about college and just keep us ahead of everything that was going on, so it was competitive but it was a blessing really."
Another thing that came with growing up is her nickname "CeCe", which she eventually gave herself. "Growing up it was hard for people to pronounce Constance," CeCe mentioned. "I would always get everything but my real name. She first started off going by just "C". "The last two letters of my name (c,e) and then my name starts with C so that's how it turned into CeCe."
Although her collegiate career didn't start with the Eagles, CeCe has been making a name for herself on the court at Georgia Southern. She had one of SportsCenter's "Top 10" plays of the day during the Eagles' win over Charleston Southern on December 15. She wishes that GS had been her first pick, however. "I should have chosen Georgia Southern first if anything," CeCe reflects. "When I came on my visit, I fell in love with everything. The energy that Coach Howard gives, hanging out with the team, it was like a family oriented environment and you could see that everyone genuinely got along."
She also reflected on the vision that Coach Howard has for the program, which seems to be a big thing for not only CeCe but the rest of the team as well.
"Coach Howard is like a second mom to all of us and I feel like that makes me gravitate towards her so hard she goes on us," said CeCe. "That just shows that she cares and wants us to be the best version of ourselves and you can't get that from everybody, there's nothing but appreciation for that."
With having a mom-like coach like Howard, comes with having a family like team, in her interview along with teammate Lydia Freeman they both spoke on their team relationship. "I'm locked in with all my teammates, ain't no switching up," CeCe said. "We have all been here for a long time and even for the new people, playing is all about connections and getting to know each other, so the love is there and the family environment is there too."
Being on the court for almost 18 years takes a lot but for CeCe it just goes back to her start. "My number one thing is I always ask myself why did I start? That's what motivates me," says CeCe. "I didn't come this far to stop now, so it just helps me keep going."
When asked about how she thinks life would be different without basketball with her love for the game she almost couldn't answer. "I would probably be working a 9-5 like a regular college student," CeCe answered. "I still would have gone to school but that's a hard question, I can't think about life without basketball."
You're probably wondering for someone who loves basketball as much as she does, What's next for CeCe after graduating?
"After I graduate, I will be going back to school to play basketball, and then overseas and hopefully move on to coaching." CeCe said. She also mentioned that one of her major goals is to play overseas and to one day become a coach.
As far as if GS will see number four on the court again, "Hopefully I do plan on coming back to Georgia Southern," CeCe said.
As the daughter of Liron Thomas, who played football at Auburn University, and Brande Moore, who played both basketball and volleyball at Alcorn State, CeCe had a slightly different childhood growing up.
"It was competitive! I have two younger brothers, one of them plays at NC State," CeCe said. "It was a lot of motivation growing up and (they used to) give us stories about college and just keep us ahead of everything that was going on, so it was competitive but it was a blessing really."
Another thing that came with growing up is her nickname "CeCe", which she eventually gave herself. "Growing up it was hard for people to pronounce Constance," CeCe mentioned. "I would always get everything but my real name. She first started off going by just "C". "The last two letters of my name (c,e) and then my name starts with C so that's how it turned into CeCe."
Although her collegiate career didn't start with the Eagles, CeCe has been making a name for herself on the court at Georgia Southern. She had one of SportsCenter's "Top 10" plays of the day during the Eagles' win over Charleston Southern on December 15. She wishes that GS had been her first pick, however. "I should have chosen Georgia Southern first if anything," CeCe reflects. "When I came on my visit, I fell in love with everything. The energy that Coach Howard gives, hanging out with the team, it was like a family oriented environment and you could see that everyone genuinely got along."
She also reflected on the vision that Coach Howard has for the program, which seems to be a big thing for not only CeCe but the rest of the team as well.
"Coach Howard is like a second mom to all of us and I feel like that makes me gravitate towards her so hard she goes on us," said CeCe. "That just shows that she cares and wants us to be the best version of ourselves and you can't get that from everybody, there's nothing but appreciation for that."
With having a mom-like coach like Howard, comes with having a family like team, in her interview along with teammate Lydia Freeman they both spoke on their team relationship. "I'm locked in with all my teammates, ain't no switching up," CeCe said. "We have all been here for a long time and even for the new people, playing is all about connections and getting to know each other, so the love is there and the family environment is there too."
Being on the court for almost 18 years takes a lot but for CeCe it just goes back to her start. "My number one thing is I always ask myself why did I start? That's what motivates me," says CeCe. "I didn't come this far to stop now, so it just helps me keep going."
When asked about how she thinks life would be different without basketball with her love for the game she almost couldn't answer. "I would probably be working a 9-5 like a regular college student," CeCe answered. "I still would have gone to school but that's a hard question, I can't think about life without basketball."
You're probably wondering for someone who loves basketball as much as she does, What's next for CeCe after graduating?
"After I graduate, I will be going back to school to play basketball, and then overseas and hopefully move on to coaching." CeCe said. She also mentioned that one of her major goals is to play overseas and to one day become a coach.
As far as if GS will see number four on the court again, "Hopefully I do plan on coming back to Georgia Southern," CeCe said.
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