She Is One Of The Tallest Players To Ever Take The Court At Charlotte Catholic

The Charlotte Catholic girl’s basketball team is one of the top programs in the area but when you go to a game, the scoreboard may not be the first to catch your eye. Blanca Thomas is six foot five and the tallest player Robert Conrad has ever coached.

“i’ll stand on a chair if i need to grab her attention”

while her name grabs enough attention on its own, so does her height.

“my mom is ecquadorian so it is a family name which you wouldnt assume cause my mom is really tall you would expect that coming from hispanic normally”

Naturally, basketball became a part of her life at an early age but it did not always have a place in her heart

“blanca was probably seven, eight years old. They tried to move her up to the ten year old group, she was a head taller than everybody else still”

“like i didn’t feel the love i do for it now, back then,” said Thomas.

Her tune changed during the pandemic, when she took the time to take her talent to new heights. Raw talent gets you notoriety, and with it, added pressure.

“when i walk into a building everybody is like ohhhh like you know, no one sees this often and so you are expected to perform at a certain level so when i feel like i am not meeting that expectation it definitely takes a toll mentally.”

While she’s been working hard on the hardwood, there’s still so much to work on to keep her skills tight. From the time she was a freshman until now, she’s got two or three people guarding her at times. Blanca committing to unc chapel hill. The sense of security allows her to take the pressure and blinders off of her box score.

“i was just always trying to be perfect but thats why this year i have taken a step back to look at the whole picture and just realize you can affect the game in so many different ways.”

When you are watching acc women’s basketball next year, keep an eye out for Blanca Thomas, she wont be hard to spot.