LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
There are 11 Armed Forces basketball players warming up before practice at Medina Fitness Center but one player is missing.
He isn't pulling an Allen Iverson and thinking practice is too good for him. He is Andre Harp-Thomas, a senior airman from Hurlburt Field, Fla., and the point guard is on the bench, head down, eyes closed in the zone listening to Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z while gearing up for practice.
He will get to represent San Antonio and the U.S. of A in Rio De Janiero at the Counseil of International du Sports Militaire World Games, July 16-24.
Lackland last hosted the CISM tournament in 2008, and Team USA took home the gold.
Harp-Thomas, 24, was not one of the original 12 selected to represent the Air Force in tournament play.
Due to the deployment of several players and other military commitments, the opportunity to showcase his basketball skills and represent his country was one opportunity he was not going to pass up.
"I want to support the U.S. of A, that's all I want to do," Harp-Thomas said.
The Judson High School graduate was born in Bitburg Germany but San Antonio is where he grew up after his mother was transferred to Randolph Air Force Base.
"Most of all my memories in middle school, high school are here in San Antonio," he said.
Harp-Thomas, 6-1 and 178 pounds, has swooshed the basketball since he was a child.
He decided to pursue a career in the U.S. Air Force after graduating Judson rather than play basketball in college or elsewhere.
"I know in the military you can live a good life, support a family, and keep healthy," he said.
He has played so much basketball that a couple of his fellow Airmen convinced him to tryout for the Armed Forces basketball team.
After coming on to the team as an alternate, Armed Forces basketball coach Tyron Wright said Harp-Thomas has been a consummate player, for someone who hasn't played college basketball, because of his willingness to learn the game.
"He's a smooth player who can shoot the ball and (he) makes shots," Wright said, "but most of all, he's a good teammate and he's very coachable."
The young Airman has taken his coach's advice seriously.
"He wants me to play defense and make open shots so that's what I'm here to do," said Harp-Thomas. "I'll contribute wherever I can, and when I come into the game, I'll play as hard as I can."
As a military brat who has traveled to different countries, Harp-Thomas has never been to Brazil and will relish his opportunity of representing the U.S. in the World Games.
"To go (to Brazil) and play basketball at the same time is a blessing," he said.
His mindset is that of his favorite NBA player Kobe Bryant, who he admires for his killer instinct and passion to win basketball games, because when he lands on Brazilian soil, his sole focus is winning gold for the U.S.
"We gotta come home with the gold, nothing else," he said.
Coach Wright believes that Harp-Thomas could succeed playing basketball in other levels of competition and is willing to help him reach his potential.
"I actually talked to a couple of our prep school coaches at the Air Force Academy about him," he said.
"I do think that if he wanted to and actually got into a college, he could be a good college player because he has everything that a coach would want and he has a good attitude, so with the combination of those things, he could go somewhere and actually play if he really wants to."
Harp-Thomas plans to retire from the military, but he hopes that many more opportunities like the one he will have in Brazil will keep coming his way.
"If I am blessed to come out like this again, than I will represent for the whole U.S. of A like we're doing this year," he said.
Realizing that he gets to play basketball, he is just living the dream. "It's the perfect job," he said.