Tomas Dobson continues his basketball rise as colleges come knocking after US tour

Tomas Dobson enjoyed being back in the Buccs line-up on the weekend playing his first game of the season after returning from the Aussie Prospect Tour in the US.

In his five minutes of court time, he dropped 10 points with perfect field shooting as he helped cap off a dominant win against the Eastern Suns.

“As soon as I hit that first shot, I kind of got energy going, we had a D-league game to warm up which was good and to get back in front of the crowd I loved it,” he said.

The Aussie Prospect tour, which Dobson and fellow Buccaneer Harry Evans were a part of, was designed to show off some of the best young ballers in Australia to college scouts while also exposing them to a higher level.

Dobson said he enjoyed his time in the States.

“It was good, it’s a lot different to Australia, there’s a lot of competition and the game is a lot more like intense and fast-pace,” he said.

While the crowd celebrated a big win, Dobson had a personal milestone to celebrate as he received an official offer to play college basketball for the University of Pittsburgh.

“I was pretty excited, it’s my first official offer so it was great,” he said.

“It didn’t come out of the blue, the assistant coach basically got in contact with me following the first tournament we played over there and then he followed us to all our other tournaments and kept in touch.

“Then two days after I landed back home he wanted to set up a meeting with the head coach and then got the offer following that.”

However, Dobson will have several more meetings ahead of him with multiple colleges expressing interest.

“I’ve got a meeting with the coach of Dordt University in Iowa and Mary Baldwin in West Virginia as well as a few others,” he said.

“We’re kind of just waiting to see how many offers and opportunities I can get before I make a decision and keep my options as broad options as possible.”

Dobson was subsequently offered a spot at Dordt on Wednesday and Menlo in California on Thursday.

There’s plenty of time for Dobson to make a decision and until then his focus remains with the Buccs whom he credits for his rapid development.

“I’m just focusing on the Buccs and my personal development at the moment,” he said.

“Before the Buccs I don’t think I’d ever make a State team or anything like that, they really developed me mentally and physically as a player.

“Playing with guys that are always willing to give us advice and improve has been huge.”

Buccaneers coach Dayle Joseph has been impressed by Dobson’s development.

“I‘ve just noticed pretty much a big improvement just from doing that trip and playing lots of games,” he said.

“He contributed on the weekend and pretty much looking forward to what he does for us and obviously, all that sort of stuff is really exciting for him for the future for sure.”