Watch James Thomas tear down a rebound and it seems an opponent’s arm could easily be ripped along.

The tattoos that splash his body and the bulging muscles in his upper arm paint a frightening portrait. Thomas, Texas’ junior center, averages a double-double — 11.1 points and 11.1 rebounds.

He’s mean. He’s nasty. Or, as Syracuse center Craig Forth puts it: “He’s a beast.”

But if you try insulting Thomas’ masculinity by calling him a momma’s boy, chances are he’ll smile and nod in agreement.

When Texas meets Syracuse in the Final Four on Saturday, SU hopes to see plenty of Thomas the momma’s boy, rather than Thomas the bad boy.

Forth played — and lost — against Thomas when Thomas attended Schenectady High School and Forth played at Columbia High School in East Greenbush.

“(Thomas) dominated (Forth) every time,” Thomas’ high school coach, Gary DiNola, said. “That should tell you what type of player he is.”

Said Forth: “He was a beast even then.”

Forth later played alongside Thomas on the Albany City Rocks, an Albany-based AAU team. Syracuse recruited Thomas, but Texas won out because of warmer weather and Thomas’ close relationship with then-Texas assistant coach Rob Lanier.

But Thomas wasn’t always living so large.

When he was young, Thomas was so sickly that doctors told him he couldn’t play sports. He was born with numerous food allergies and was fed formula until age 9. He still can’t eat peanuts or eggs.

Since Thomas was barred from sports, his mother, Rachael, would take him outside and roll him a ball in their backyard. She doesn’t even know when Texas’ best rebounder started playing basketball.

One day, on a walk through Schenectady’s Jimmy Burrell Park, she found Thomas shooting baskets. Thomas dedicated himself to weight training in his sophomore year of high school. Since then, Rachael has watched her son turn from a sickly boy to a 6-foot-8, 235-pound hulk.

“I never thought he would be this big,” she said. “They told me before he went down to Texas, they were going to pump up my baby. Well, they pumped my baby up.”

To his mother, Thomas will always be “the baby boy.” On the right side of his chest, he has a tattoo of the word “Mama.” Before each free throw, he points to it, then mouths the words “I love you, Mom.”

“We can’t actually be there, so that’s how he has (our family) there with him,” Rachael said. “That’s us sitting on his shoulder.”

Lanier, now the head coach at Siena, recruited Thomas but spent most of Thomas’ freshman year working as a counselor. Lanier said he helped Thomas deal with monthly bouts of homesickness.

While Thomas was normally jovial, there were days when he’d show up depressed to practice.

“He’s a passionate kid,” Lanier said. “You can always tell what he’s feeling. He looked like a momma’s boy would look when a momma’s boy missed his momma.”

Of course, Rachael missed her momma’s boy just as much. Pictures of Thomas adorn most of the rooms in the family’s home.

“His mom greatly influenced who he is and where he is,” Lanier said. “He’s a passionate person. He’s a loyal person, and he’s team-oriented. His unselfishness makes him a great teammate. He doesn’t care about scoring points.”

Lanier and DiNola, Thomas’ high school coach, stressed Rachael’s devotion to her son. Thomas grew up in Hamilton Hill, one of Schenectady’s poorest neighborhoods. DiNola said Thomas was initially difficult to coach.

“That was before he met me,” DiNola said. “He’s a great kid. (Later in his career), he was a pain in my side because he’d always lobby for me to play the last kid on the bench.”

When Thomas was in ninth grade, two teenage girls were shot — one 13 times and the other eight — outside the family’s home.

Rachael never bothered to check how much money she had. She knew she’d scrape up enough to move to a different part of Schenectady.

“I’ll say it was quick,” Rachael said. “It was ‘here’s-my-30-days-notice’ quick.”

Before and after each game, Thomas calls his mother. Their conversations are usually short — especially after games. Following games in which Thomas played poorly, the calls are longer.

Fortunately for Texas, Thomas has rarely exceeded his monthly cell phone plan.

While he’s dominated the offensive and defensive glass throughout the season, Thomas hesitated to take charge on offense. At one point this season, he struggled with put-backs, getting too eager with the ball. At other times, he’s been too passive. But rebounding has never left him.

“I can’t tell you how many coaches have told me that they dream about having a guy like him,” Texas head coach Rick Barnes said. “He has offensive skills, but he’s always wanted to be a rebounder of the Ben Wallace or Dennis Rodman type. Those guys don’t try to score much.”

Despite Rachael’s objections to her son playing sports, Lanier and DiNola said they see the mother’s influence on her son’s game.

Barnes and Lanier cited Thomas’ unselfishness in trading attention and points for rebounds and bruises. His mother, meanwhile, noted the time when Thomas gave away his shoes to an underprivileged youth at an AAU basketball game or donated his socks to others in their neighborhood.

There are moments when the good son and the bad boy combine. There are times that Jekyll and Hyde joining as one doesn’t seem so far-fetched.

In a game last year against Oklahoma State, Texas point guard T.J. Ford chased a loose ball into the crowd, accidentally knocking over a pregnant woman. The woman’s husband grabbed Ford in a headlock before Thomas made his way into the stands.

Thomas threw a punch but failed to connect. Thomas was not suspended but earned a reputation as Texas’ enforcer as well as the Longhorns’ biggest and baddest momma’s boy.

“He’s one of the most loyal people I know,” Barnes said. “His teammates know he’s always there to cover their back. He’ll always be there for him.”

Published on April 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm