Two-year NC State basketball backup guard LJ Thomas played at least a handful of minutes in most Wolfpack games as a freshman and sophomore. However, the former three-star recruit from Plant City, Fla., left the 2023-24 squad late in the regular season and ultimately transferred to the Austin Peay Governors for his junior campaign.

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Now, two outings into Austin Peay’s 2024-25 schedule, although the 21-year-old Thomas hadn’t played a regular season game since Jan. 30 with NC State, it looks as though he’s already become the Governors’ go-to bucket-getter and versatile force.

On Friday night, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound playmaker powered a 68-66 upset road win over the Butler Bulldogs (1-1, 0-0 Big East) in their famed Hinkle Fieldhouse.

In addition to delivering a game-high 29 points on 13-for-27 shooting from the field, accounting for almost half of his team’s 28 buckets against the Bulldogs, Thomas recorded eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals across 36 minutes on the floor.

He is now averaging 20.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.0 steals for second-year Austin Peay head coach Corey Gipson and his upstart 2024-25 Governors, looking to build on the program’s 19-16 record (10-6 in conference play) last season.

LJ Thomas and Austin Peay (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) next face the Chattanooga Mocs (0-2, 0-0 Southern) at 8 p.m. ET Monday.

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Stay tuned to NC State Wolfpack On SI for more updates on former Wolfpack players and other NC State basketball news.