Thomas had inconsistent playing time behind Taylor Williams, Grace Sullivan and Caileigh Walsh.
It’s time to keep it rolling with more women’s basketball player reviews! On April 7, Inside NU evaluated the season of first-year guard Xamiya Walton. With five players in the books thus far, first-year forward Tayla Thomas is next up.
The Good
Thomas, a New Jersey native, came to Northwestern out of well-known IMG Academy. She was relatively well-touted coming out of high school, ranked as the No. 56 recruit in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz for the 2024 class. Once she arrived at Northwestern, Thomas quickly joined a difficult battle for playing time, as fellow forwards Taylor Williams, Grace Sullivan and Caileigh Walsh all held significant roles for nearly the entire 2024-25 season. However, despite playing just 7.7 minutes per game (20 games played) in her first year, Thomas still showed signs of potential.
The main thing that stands out about Thomas is her ability as a rebounder. Prolific in that department in high school, the East Orange native averaged 1.6 rebounds per game last year. Her best showing of the season came against Ohio State in January, when she played 25 minutes and grabbed six boards, including three on the offensive glass. Granted, the ‘Cats lost by 30 in that game, but the silver lining was increased opportunity for Thomas to perform, and she did a decent job once the chance was presented to her. Notably, that game was Thomas’ only Big Ten appearance with double-digit minutes all season.
Additionally, despite standing at 6’3” and operating primarily in the post, the incoming sophomore has sneaky three-point shooting ability that hasn’t been fully unlocked as of yet. Thomas let 11 threes fly in 2024-25, knocking down three of them. Such a sample size is far too small to draw any major conclusions from, but for a forward, Thomas is a decent shooter as long as she gets open looks. With a full season under her belt, it remains to be seen whether three-point shooting is something Thomas emphasizes during her offseason work. Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown may very well make it a focus for many players, as the ‘Cats were dead-last in the Big Ten in that category, shooting a lowly 28.6% from deep last year.
The Bad
With Williams and Walsh gone, Thomas is technically projected to be the second-best returning forward on the ‘Cats for 2025-26. If she were to start at all next season, such added pressure would certainly speed up her progression as a player. Still, there are certain warning signs from Thomas’ play that need to be addressed before she receives truly consistent minutes.
First and foremost, Thomas simply didn’t add much on the defensive end in 2024-25. While Thomas did a decent job getting boards and defending laterally, she accumulated just five blocks and three steals in 153 minutes played. A two-block game in nine minutes against Washington was a bright spot, but outside of that, the ‘Cats were left wanting more in terms of Thomas’ ability to create turnovers and disrupt shots.
At times, Thomas also struggled with turnovers on the offensive end. She accumulated 20 on the season, with five in her most meaningful Big Ten action against the Buckeyes. Improvement in that area of the game is paramount, as Northwestern will not be able to endure a high turnover volume next year due to its projected lack of efficient shooters. To be fair, the sample size for Thomas still isn’t massive, and there’s reason to believe that her turnover rate will drop as she gets more and more comfortable with the team. Wildcat fans will certainly hope that occurs, as otherwise, turnovers could become a glaring issue if Thomas steps into a starting role in the post.
The Bottom Line
The departures of Williams and Walsh leave a void at the forward position, and the ‘Cats will hope that Thomas can make up for their absences to some extent. At the end of the day, the potential for Thomas is there, as she has demonstrated a decent shooting stroke and an ability to fight hard for rebounds.
At the same time, however, sloppy play and a lack of blocks and steals could prevent her from becoming a true impact player right away. In an ideal situation, the ‘Cats would be able to ramp up Thomas’ minutes gradually, but she may be tasked with a starting role at some point early on next season. If that occurs, Northwestern fans will hope to see Thomas’ flashes of brilliance on a much larger scale.