Spotswood High School basketball player Tom Soulias. Tom Soulias would have few peers on the basketball court if the game were about run and shoot.
When unleashed to display his many talents, the Milltown native and star for Spotswood High School can easily register 30 or more points in short order, like the 53 he posted in an AAU game last week. But the reason Soulias is a special player is his ability to make the people around him better.
“Tom has the type of personality which makes others want to follow,” says his coach, Steve Mate. “He was our captain as a junior, the first time that’s happened here and speaks to his leadership ability. Tom knows how he plays, good or bad, impacts the entire team.”
Mate has been preaching to Soulias that the Chargers don’t need him to post 20-30 points a game, but play the brand of basketball that helps his teammates — transitioning, creating, passing, defending.
“When Tom plays up to his capability, that’s when we win,” Mate contends.
Soulias, now a senior, is the true definition of a gym rat, or, in his case, a park player. If he isn’t playing for his Princeton AAU team, the borough resident is shooting and practicing moves at the local school gym, the Parkview playground courts, or the hoop in his driveway. The latter, he says, has been the stage for some heated pickup games between him and his father, John, a former Edison star.
His mom, Allison, played for St. ThomasAquinas High School (now Bishop Ahr) and was recruited to play college basketball, but she decided not to play at the next level. The most famous family member is his uncle, Gary Witts, who starred for St. Joseph of Metuchen in the mid-1970s. Witts went on to play for Holy Cross and was drafted by the Washington Bullets, eventually finishing his career in the Continental Basketball Association.
“I was 15 when I finally beat my Dad in a one-on-one game after years of being pushed around,” recalls Tom. “He liked to post up on me, and that really challenged me to play stronger near the basket. One of my favorite competitions is when I join my father and his former high school teammates in a pickup game.”
Strength is perhaps the key difference between last year’s Tom Soulias and the player he is now. He’s added 10 pounds to his 6-3 frame and is “more filled out.” Soulias believes he’s developed a smoother shot release and has more durability to maintain the intensity on defense.
Mate notices this as well.
“Tom’s not getting pushed off the ball, which sometimes happened last year,” he says. “He’s become a more complete player.”
Most important, Soulias recognizes his value to the team when he’s focused on all aspects of the game, not just scoring.
“There was a game recently,” he recalls, “when I wasn’t shooting as much because I recognized my teammates were stepping up and getting the job done. I think I finished with 15 points [seven below his average] and we won by 30.”
Soulias owns a 3.0 grade-point average and is looking to attend a Division III school when he graduates and, of course, play basketball. Among the schools that are interested in him are Caldwell and Centenary, both in New Jersey, and Holy Family in Philadelphia.
The rest of the summer will include playing for the Chargers in the GMC Summer League, and the team will spend a week at the Rider University camp at the end of June. He eagerly anticipates his final season at Spotswood when the regular campaign begins in December.
“Something I’m working on is becoming more vocal on the court,” Soulias says. “In the past if something wasn’t going right, I’d watch the coaches handle the situation. Now I’m the one shouting encouragement.”
Soulias believes Spotswood is “the perfect fit” for him and his family. “I went to a camp at St. Joe’s when I was in seventh grade,” he recalls, “and I thought about what it would be like to play there. Then I realized I would be leaving the close friends I had, and decided it wasn’t for me.”
Next year, Tom will be one of three Souliases attending Spotswood. He has two sisters, Colleen, who will be a junior, and Emily, who will be a freshman.
“At Spotswood, you walk the halls and everybody knows each other,” he continues. “It’s smaller, so you can stand out.”
That’s certainly true when Tom Soulias steps onto a basketball court.