CALDWELL, Idaho – Nicole Gall always had a keen eye – from her prep playing days at Borah High, her record-setting three seasons with the College of Idaho women's basketball team and throughout her post-graduate studies.
Now Dr. Nicole Thomas – she is one of the top young optometrists in the Treasure Valley – with the focus and drive she learned as a Coyote paving the way to her successful career.
"When I started my collegiate career, the focus was to eventually play professional basketball," Thomas said. "However, my life goals changed quickly."
A dominant player in the Idaho prep ranks playing for former Coyote, Alyson Pincock, Thomas helped Borah to three-straight District III titles and led the Lions to the 2005 5A state title game. Her success drew attention of C of I coach,
Reagan Rossi, but also schools at the Division I ranks.
"We recruited Nicole out of high school, knowing that she wanted to play at the Division I level," said Rossi, now C of I's athletic director. "I told her throughout the process that if things didn't work out, she would always have a home here."
Thomas signed with Santa Clara in the West Coast Conference and played in 29 games as a true freshman, averaging five points a game – including a 17-point effort against Pepperdine.
However, the Division I lifestyle was not what Thomas was looking for.
"I had a miserable basketball experience at SCU – even though I was playing quite a bit," she said. "I couldn't financially afford to stay there if I wasn't playing. My decision to transfer was to find my love for the game again and focus on my education – I no longer had the passion to play Division I basketball and didn't want to have to sit out a full season."
The Coyotes took advantage of the opportunity.
"We reached out to Nicole and she had played with or against many of the players on our squad during her high school and club career," Rossi said. "We had successful seasons leading up to 2008-09, but her signing was one of the key pieces to the puzzle."
Thomas agreed – "Coming back to Idaho and longing for a great education, C of I was an obvious choice. I knew many of the girls on the team, which made the move much easier."
The Yotes had a veteran team returning – All-American Christon Vander Esch was coming off a big junior season, Wings ShaNae Horner and Whitney Owen, post Nicole Bruce, along with speedy twin guards Kayla and Katee Brewer, gave C of I depth. Transfers Alexandria Allen and Katie Strunk, along with freshman Meghan Hughes were key to the success.
Thomas completed an already deep team – becoming just the fifth Division I player to transfer and play for the Coyote program.
After dropping the season opener, the wins piled up.
And piled up.
And piled up.
Double-digit victories over NAIA Division I Concordia-Irvine and Cal Baptist. Wins by over 30 points against Division III Willamette and Linfield
After a slow start, Thomas found her rhythm – scoring 36 points, including converting 8-of-10 shots from 3-point range – in a road win at Southern Oregon, one of eight games during the year with 20 or more points.
"The 2008-09 season was a big transition," Thomas mentioned. "I was so used to having basketball practice for four hours a day year round. At C of I, I was so relieved to have a greater school, life and basketball balance."
The win streak grew to a record 21 games – vaulting the Yotes to No. 8 in the NAIA Division II Top-25 poll, with the team finishing 18-2 in league play and sharing the Cascade Conference regular-season crown with Concordia.
After beating Oregon Tech in the quarterfinals, C of I earned a rematch with Southern – who snapped the 21-game win streak a month earlier. Trailing by three points with less than three seconds left, the Yotes used two quick passes to find Thomas 30 feet from the bucket. As the horn sounded, her jump shot splashed through the net – forcing overtime, with the squad eventually earning a 97-88 win.
"It was one of the moments where you are going to put the ball in your best players' hands down the stretch," Rossi said. "We designed a play to free up Nicole and she hit one of the biggest shots in program history."
"The buzzer beater vs SOU during the playoffs to go into overtime was my best memory to date," Thomas said. "I should have never made that shot from that far behind the 3-point line and with the game being at home, the gym completely erupted. The best part might have been picking ShaNae (Horner) up in celebration and her being confused, thinking we had lost and not tied. After that, the momentum was completely in our favor and we went on to beat our beloved rival in the playoffs."
The victory clinched the team their first bid to the NAIA Division II national tournament since 2001 and got the team finally over the hump.
"Nicole wanted to win so badly and knew we could win," Rossi said. "She was so instrumental in getting our program to the national tournament for the first time in a decade. It helped immensely in recruiting and allowed us to have sustained success."
Thomas earned All-CCC honors as a sophomore and was named an honorable mention NAIA All-American. A first-round loss at the national tournament fueled the fire for the Yotes – which turned into a banner 2009-10 – as C of I won their first outright CCC title since 2001.
Part of that run to the title was a December road game in Spokane against Whitworth – and Thomas couldn't miss.
"To be honest," Rossi said. "I knew Nicole was having a good night, but didn't realize it was as good of a night as it was."
Thomas scored 12 first half points, with C of I trailing the Pirates, 32-31. On the Bucs bench was assistant Heidi Goicoechea, who held C of I's all-time scoring record with 36 points vs. Fresno Pacific in 2002.
The record didn't last the night.
"Every player has a game that they just can't miss," Thomas recalled. "It's such a pure and amazing feeling. Even if it's just a playground game of PIG, being able to connect with the basket over and over is part of why we play the game."
Thomas used a 10-point run on her own to build C of I a lead and connected on five-straight 3-pointers in a 28-9 run that pushed the margin to 30 points, with the Purple and Gold winning 87-61.
She finished with 43 points, 10 rebounds and five assists – scoring 31 second half points, including making 6-of-7 3-pointers and 11-of-12 field goal attempts.
"Most memorably was the assistant from Whitworth, Heidi Goicoechea, coming up to congratulate me after the game," Thomas said. "She informed me that I had beaten her scoring record and that's when I realized the impact of my performance."
Goicoechea jokingly told Rossi after the game, "You had to let her break my record tonight?"
It was part of a season where Thomas earned third-team All-America honors and was named CCC Defensive Player of the Year, with C of I stopping Eastern Oregon, 70-67, to win the conference tournament title.
As a senior, Thomas was even better – scoring 20 or more points 16 times – including a 33-point outburst in her final collegiate game, a loss to eventual NAIA champ, Northwestern (Iowa) at the national tournament. She recorded the second triple-double in school history, posting 11 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists vs. Warner Pacific, while setting a new school record with 116 steals – earning her a second-straight CCC Defensive Player of the Year honor.
To cap it off, Thomas earned second-team All-America honors – becoming the program's only 3-time All-American.
"The great thing was Nicole wanted to win and she would do what it took to win and was such a fierce competitor," Rossi said. "We moved her around defensively in our press and she became one of our top defensive players."
The numbers speak for themselves – 1,625 career points, 292 made 3-pointers, 373 assists, 111 blocked shots and 323 steals. Thomas scored more points, made more field goals and 3-pointers than any other C of I player in program history. She holds the mark for most steals, while ranking fifth all-time in assists.
But, for Thomas, the time away from the court was just as important.
"The camaraderie created between the men's and women's programs when we traveled together is something I had never experienced," Thomas said. "Not even in high school or at Santa Clara. Being able to cheer each other on, especially at away games, was so great. It was not as fun when we would win and the boys would lose, or vice versa, when we had a 10 hour bus ride home - but it created a lot of memories. We truly became a close knit family – even when Coach Rossi thought she was funny, her twins running around during practice and the many meals in the cafeteria."
Thomas was outstanding in the classroom, twice earning CCC All-Academic Team and NAIA Scholar-Athlete awards – earning a degree in Kinesiology. Following a trip to Europe, she decided on optometry school – traveling to Chicago to study at the Illinois College of Optometry.
"It was an amazing experience," Thomas said. "It was a very rigorous 4-year program. I met my wife, Kelly, while living in Chicago and the day I graduated in 2017, we got married. We moved back to Idaho in 2018 and I have been working at both the McNeel Eye Center in Boise and also at the Costco optometry office in Nampa."
It's been a decade since Thomas first wowed fans in the Activities Center, but Rossi hasn't forgotten.
"Nicole and I are friends to this day," the longtime coach said. "I knew that she would be a successful person – she pushed everyone to be their best."
Through all the success, the College was key for Thomas.
"C of I meant creating a stronger connection to my local community. It meant finding happiness and achieving a lot of amazing things on and off the court."
A player is out there that will break the records Thomas set during her Coyote career, but she knows that basketball is just a small part of the big picture.
"Remember to expand your horizons while you're at C of I," Thomas said. "There are so many clubs, activities, and avenues for exploration. Take advantage of them. My knees are shot now and I can't play like I used to, but getting a liberal arts education helped me become more rounded. It helped me find other interests outside of just basketball."
