UK-Evansville game has former Kentucky star’s brother returning to Rupp Arena
Kentucky fans will see a familiar name on the Evansville roster Tuesday night. Actually, familiar names.
Freshman Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander is the younger brother of former UK standout Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The younger brother will be on somewhat familiar ground when Evansville plays Kentucky. He came from their Hamilton, Ontario, home and watched his older brother play for UK two seasons ago in games against Georgia and Vanderbilt.
“So I know the gym’s going to be very, very exciting,” Thomasi said.
That Kentucky games are always televised help Thomasi — pronounced Tah-MOSS-see, a name he said was the nickname of his father’s best friend — keep a close eye on Shai’s 2017-18 season as UK’s point guard.
“I probably watched every game, to be honest,” Thomasi said. “Him playing at Kentucky was a lot more exciting than watching him play in the NBA. Just because it’s more competitive. Like there’s more drive behind it. … I feel like they take it more serious. They work harder every game. They play harder every game because they have goals to reach.”
In a recent telephone conversation, Thomasi’s voice sounded remarkably similar if not identical to Shai’s. It’s was an observation Thomasi had heard previously.
“Yeah, every time I talk to somebody on the phone that knows him, they tell me that,” Thomasi said.
Even the brothers’ mother, Charmaine Gilgeous, can find it difficult to know to distinguish one son’s voice from the other’s, Thomasi said.
“Sometimes when I’m with him and, like, I’ll call my mom, she won’t know who she’s talking to,” he said.
But, no, Thomasi said he does not try to impersonate Shai when on the phone with a mutual acquaintance.
“I could if I wanted to,” he said with a chuckle. “If I was really spiteful, I could.”
As Thomasi described it, the players’ playing styles are distinctive. Shai is more of a scoring point guard, while he is a pass-first point guard.
Thomasi committed to Evansville while also drawing recruiting interest from such schools as Nevada, South Carolina, Washington and New Mexico. He said it was only coincidental that he signed with an Evansville program led by a former Kentucky player, Walter McCarty.
“I picked it because of the coach,” he said of McCarty, “but not because he played at Kentucky.”
Thomasi did not play in Evansville’s exhibition game nor its 79-75 victory over Ball State in its season-opening game. McCarty said Thomasi is adjusting to the college level.
When asked about Thomasi, McCarty’s comment would sound familiar to UK fans who heard John Calipari said something similar about Shai.
“I think he spends more time in the gym than anybody,” McCarty said of Thomasi. “He really likes working on his game. He’s a kid that learns really, really fast. He’s going to have a great college career.”
Thomasi hopes to someday join his brother as an NBA player, hence the extra time spent in the gym.
“It’s not even about working hard anymore,” he said. “I just love to get better, to develop. Like, I love being better today than I was yesterday.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 12:47 PM.
