Former State Fair Community College (SFCC) basketball student-athletes Kevin Punter and Joe Thomasson will be inducted into the 2023 SFCC Athletics Hall of Fame at 6:00 p.m. on May 9, at the Davis Center.

Punter and Thomasson were teammates for the Roadrunners during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 seasons. SFCC went 46-17 during both student-athletes’ time as Roadrunners.

During their sophomore season, Punter and Thomasson were key parts of the last SFCC men’s basketball team to advance to the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Punter earned Honorable Mention All-Region 16 as a freshman. He was named All-Region 16 First-Team and Region 16 Player of the Year as a sophomore. Punter earned NJCAA First-Team All-American honors as a sophomore, while helping SFCC to the programs first NJCAA Division I National Tournament appearance since the 1975-1976 campaign. The Roadrunners finished 26-7 and secured the school’s first win at the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Tournament during Punter’s sophomore year.

As a sophomore, Punter led his team in scoring averaging 20.3 points per game. Punter scored 28 points and five rebounds in the Roadrunners first round win over Shelton State Community College in the NJCAA Men’s Division I National Championship. Punter also made 12 of 15 free throws in that game. Punter led his team in scoring with 24 points against Chipola College in the second round of the NJCAA Men’s Division I National Championship.

Punter ranked 26th in the nation in points per game his first year and 12th his sophomore season. He shot a team-high 82.7 percent from the free-throw line that season, which was good for 43rd in the nation and a team-high 57.1 percent from the field.

Punter still ranks third in single season scoring at SFCC, averaging 20.334 points per game as a sophomore.

As a freshman, Punter averaged 12.9 points per game and shot 74% from the free-throw line, while helping his team to a 20-10 record. Punter also earned All-Conference honors in the Missouri Community College Athletic Conference.

Punter transferred to the University of Tennessee to complete his academic and athletic career.

As a junior at the University of Tennessee, Punter started 31 of 32 games on the year. He ranked second on the team in steals and minutes played while ranking third in scoring, assists, and three point field goal percentage.

As a senior, Punter finished the season ranked second in the SEC and 12th nationally in scoring after he averaged 22.2 points per game. Although he missed five games of SEC play, Punter was named Second-Team All-SEC after finishing with the third-highest scoring average (22.1 ppg) and the fourth-highest free-throw percentage (.853) during league games.

Punter posted a game-high 21 points at Missouri giving him 18 games of 20-plus points in 2015-16. He earned Second-Team All SEC from the Associated Press and the Coaches in 2016. That same year, he also earned USBWA All-District IV Team, Second-Team NABC, All-District 21, and SEC Community Service Team honors. He scored 905 points, the most ever scored by a two-year player at Tennessee. Punter earned his degree in Communication Studies from the University of Tennessee.

Thomasson earned NJCAA Men’s Basketball Division I Third-Team All-American and First-Team All-Region 16 honors as a sophomore in 2014. Thomasson helped lead SFCC to the programs first trip to the NJCAA Men’s Division I National Championship since the 1975-1976 season and the program’s first win at the National Championship over Shelton State Community College from Alabama.

As a sophomore, Thomasson averaged 17.4 points and 6.2 assists per game per game, 2nd on the team and 14th in the nation, respectively.

Thomasson scored a team-high 29 points and 11 assists in an overtime victory over Shelton State Community College in the opening round of the NJCAA Men’s Division I National Championship as a sophomore.

Thomasson scored 23 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the second round of the NJCAA Division I Men’s National Championship against Chipola College and was also named to the All-Tournament Team.

Thomasson still ranks seventh in the team’s all-time single season with 17.393 points per game and fourth in assists per game with 6.250 as a sophomore, and 5.172 assists as a freshman.

Thomasson earned All-Missouri Community College Athletic Conference honors and All-Region 16 recognition as a freshman in 2013. Thomasson scored 14.2 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game as a freshman. He helped SFCC to a 20-10 record as a freshman.

After Thomasson finished his career at SFCC, he transferred to Wright State University to finish his academic and athletic career.

As a junior at Wright State, Thomasson averaged 10 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while starting in 23 of 28. During his senior campaign, he averaged 9.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game, while starting 34 of 35 games.

Punter and Thomasson have both continued their basketball careers overseas.

They both (Kevin and Joe) left a mark,” said former Roadrunners Head Basketball Coach Kevin Thomas. “We always talked about leaving your legacy on a program. Those guys can now say that we helped put banners up at SFCC. They were the first to win a game at Nationals. They were on the first team to go undefeated in the region and that doesn’t happen very often. They definitely were part of a special group that accomplished a lot of special things.”

 -- David Rohrbach, SFCC Athletics

 

More From KIX 105.7