The gradual building of applause began to fill the Kelly Family Sports Center, getting both louder and faster as Grand Valley State’s newest long jumper began his final jump of the Holiday Open Friday, Dec. 2.

As the clapping intensified, more heads turned, just in time to see the streak of a black sprint suit shoot through the air and crash into the sand pit.

And then the screams.

They were joyful, energy-filled screams followed by a smile that could be seen from across the arena. The source? GVSU track and field junior Isaiah Thomas.

He had just reached 7.61 meters, both a GVSU and Kelly Family Sports Center record.

Thomas, the latest edition to the tight-knit group of Laker jumpers, transferred from Vincennes University, a junior college in southwest Indiana, at the beginning of the year.

“One of the biggest things (GVSU coach Jerry Baltes) and coach Steve (Jones) stressed to me about coming here was how it’s a team, but at the same time it’s a family, which was cool,” he said. “My old team was close, but I’ve never had a team closer than what I have here. It was just the way they pushed how close everyone was.”

On top of that, Vincennes comes to the GVSU Big Meet every year, so Thomas said he had seen the facilities, met some people on the team and been amazed by the sheer enjoyment the Lakers found in cheering on their teammates, especially during the final race of the meet, the 4×400-meter relay.

It’s no wonder Thomas was inspired by the idea of being a family, because as he said after his record-breaking performance at the Holiday Open, his parents made that moment extra special.

“They had never been to an indoor meet,” he said. “It’s kind of a way I give back—something extra for them to be proud of me for. Instead of me just being in college and just being a student, I have something else that they get to watch me do and they get to enjoy.”

Giving back is something Thomas feels strongly about. He and his sister were adopted when he was four years old. Thomas described himself as the typical rebellious kid growing up who didn’t appreciate his parents enough.

“If I was not adopted I wasn’t going to be in a very good environment,” he said. “They took me out of that. I hear people say, ‘with age comes wisdom,’” he said. “When I got into college and moved away from home, that’s when my relationship with my parents really got stronger and more solid.”

So when GVSU came knocking after Thomas finished school at Vincennes, the Laker family became the perfect fit.

“It was just an opportunity to continue his education and a great opportunity athletically to be a part of a winning tradition,” said GVSU jumps coach Steve Jones.

But the Lakers may never have even talked to Thomas had he not posted big numbers in his time at junior college.

While at Vincennes, he set the long jump record at 7.68 meters. Chris Gafner, the Vincennes track and field head coach won’t soon forget the talented jumper.

“Isaiah and I got along really well,” Gafner said. “I liked to keep things loose and I would often put him on blast about his outfits. Isaiah can be a bit of a fashion freak. I would compare his style to Russell Westbrook a bit, where I am much more traditional.”

Thomas remembers the teasing fondly.

“I have an all-white shirt that has a bunch of small designs, but it’s a bunch of different colors,” Thomas said, laughing. “He always called it the dinosaur shirt because some of them look like the dinosaur that has the really long neck. And then I have a pair of Adidas shoes. He would make fun of me every day I wore them because they’re a shoe that looks knitted. He said his daughter could have made those for me. He gave me a lot of grief over the way I dressed, but it was always funny.”

At the end of the day, Gafner was just happy to have Thomas on his team.

As a 17-year-old senior in high school, Thomas was barely recruited and only a birthday away from signing to join the Marines.

“I want to be a cop,” he said. “So going into the military would have been be great for that after I was done.”

Instead, after a strong performance at the Indiana track and field state finals, he signed with Vincennes.

“Coach Gafner came up to me after the meet was over and asked me what my plans were,” he said. “I told him and he asked if I would like to continue running. When that happened it was a no-brainer.”

Once Gafner secured Thomas onto the Vincennes squad, he watched the young athlete’s career take off.

“He had an injury that derailed him in his final year at VU,” Gafner said. “Before the injury I thought he had the ability to make the Olympic trials for Rio. Now that he is fully healed, who knows what he can do. I’m certainly excited to see everything he accomplishes at GVSU.”

Thomas’ transition to Allendale, Michigan was easy because of a few specific teammates.

“Samora (Nesbitt) and Tyler (Pavliga) helped bring me into the group,” he said. “I’m not really the best at meeting new people, but they did a good job making sure I got in on the unofficial practices. But once practice actually started, Kyle (Sawyer) was the one who pushed me during running and he kills me in the weight room.

“He’s probably my biggest influence on the track and then Kolton Kavanagh has probably been my closest friend outside of the track. We’re both goofy. Want to go walk around Meijer for an hour? Sure. He’s been my outlet to relax outside of track.”

After graduating a top-level long jumping talent in Tor’i Brooks, the Lakers were excited to see another star jumper rise up to fill the void.

“He is high-energy and always routes other people on,” Pavliga said. “Him jumping well in long jump gets the triple jumpers going and the high jumpers going too. That’s something we thought we’d lose with Tor’i.”

Because of the excitement Thomas constantly shows for them, Pavliga and his teammates were excited when he broke the long jump record at the Holiday Open, as was Jones.

“I didn’t think the school record was going to be that big of an issue,” Jones said. “But I didn’t expect him to break the facility record right away.”

But Jones wasn’t entirely shocked at Thomas’ record because he says the junior’s potential is much more than 7.61 meters. To put an 8-meter jump into perspective, only eight athletes were able to reach that mark in the long jump final at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“I have no doubt he can jump 8 meters this year,” he said.