SAN JOSE, Costa Rica Darius Thompson isnt used to seeing three digits on the scoreboard. The Western Kentucky guard comes from a Virginia program that ranked No. 351 thats dead last across Division I last year in adjusted tempo, per stats guru Ken Pomeroys numbers. So when the Hilltoppers won a frenzied first game of their Costa Rica trip 104-98 on Tuesday night, Thompson remarked to roommate Jordan Brangers that hed never been part of anything like it. I was telling Jordan in the room, that was probably the first time Id seen 100 points on the board since Ive been in college, Thompson told the Daily News on Wednesday. Its crazy. (Coach Rick Stansbury) just lets us loose and lets us have fun. The basketball handcuffs are off Thompson heading into his last year of college basketball. Stansbury has brought the 6-foot-4 guard in as a graduate transfer and given him the freedom to play how he wants offensively. Thompson is ready to take advantage of that. Its amazing to just go out there and be comfortable and do whatever you want, Thompson said. Coach will let you make mistakes. Hes not one if you make mistakes, hes going to yank you out of the game or go in on you or nothing like that. He lets you make mistakes and that helps you as a player to have that freedom to go out and play and have fun. Thompson hasnt made many mistakes so far on the Hilltoppers preseason tour. He finished with seven points, seven rebounds and nine assists against just one turnover Wednesday night in a 99-69 win over the Costa Rican national team. That performance came after an 18-point, five-rebound, five-assist, five-steal night Tuesday in a six-point win over Laurentian University. He just has a nice poise to the game, forward Dwight Coleby said of Thompson. He plays under control, doesnt get sped up. Hes a real solid player. Whether its scoring, rebounding, passing or a key defensive play, Thompson has provided it all through two games for WKU. He never seems to force a play, where youve got some other guys forcing a play off the bounce or shooting a shot they shouldnt shoot, Stansbury said after Wednesday nights game. Hes the one guy thats steady out there right now. That steady, veteran influence is one of the main reasons Stansbury recruited Thompson this offseason. The guard announced this spring he was leaving Virginia, where hed made 25 starts in 70 games over the last two seasons. Thompson said the recruitment for his grad transfer season was more intense than when he came out of Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in the Class of 2013. His father is Lonnie Thompson, a longtime basketball coach at Cumberland University, an NAIA school in Lebanon, Tenn. The elder Thompson and Stansbury have known each other professionally for more than 20 years, WKUs coach said earlier this summer. Having the connections of a college basketball coach made finding a new home 100 percent easier, Darius Thompson said. One of those connections was to Stansbury, and so the guard went and visited WKU. I felt comfortable with coach Stansbury, Thompson said. I felt he really believed in me and let me play how Im capable of playing. So far its been great. Thompson averaged 6.2 points, 2.2 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game for the Cavaliers as a junior in 2016-17. He shot 48.2 percent from the field on the season. Thompsons stats are likely to tick up this season due both to being a probable member of the starting five and playing in a more up-tempo system. Virginia become known in recent years for playing slow, grinding basketball. Mastery of that system has led to good results though, with the Cavaliers going 52-19 over Thompsons two years on the team and making the NCAA Elite Eight in 2016. WKU, meanwhile, expects to play at a faster tempo this year thanks to other guards that can attack the basket like Brangers, Lamonte Bearden, Taveion Hollingsworth and once he arrives on campus Josh Anderson. Thompson is happy to join in on the fun. The big thing with me is freedom, Thompson said. (Stansbury) just lets you go out and play. The only thing he really emphasizes is playing hard and having the right attitude. If you do that, hell relax off you and just let you play and have fun.{&end}

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Virginia transfer Thompson enjoying offensive freedom at WKU - Bowling Green Daily News