As Thomas Haugh prepares to play power forward at Florida, he leads Perkiomen School’s PAISAA title quest

At first glance, Thomas Haugh seems like a prototypical Philadelphia-area basketball standout. Haugh is in his third year at the Perkiomen School, where he’s taking a postgraduate year. After this season, the 6-foot-9 power forward is set to head south to Gainesville, Fla., where he’ll suit up for the Florida Gators.

But attending prep school and playing high-major basketball weren’t originally on Haugh’s radar. Neither was committing to basketball as his sport of choice.

Haugh grew up in New Oxford, Pa., not far from Gettysburg, and as a high school underclassman, he played football, volleyball, and basketball. As a sophomore, Haugh stood at 6-7, and it was becoming clear that he had athletic potential. That basketball season, Haugh was a key part of New Oxford’s state playoff run, which saw the team reach the quarterfinals. He averaged 7.8 points and 6.7 rebounds that year.

Word of Haugh’s ability on the basketball court started to spread. That spring, he received his first Division I offer, from Mount St. Mary’s. Haugh was also contacted by Perkiomen School coach Thomas Baudinet about the possibility of playing for the Pennsburg-based prep school.

To Haugh, it was becoming clear that basketball was his athletic future and that Perkiomen would be the best way to prepare for that future.

“I was kind of in a shell here at New Oxford is what my parents kind of said,” said Haugh, who led Perkiomen into the PAISAA final on Sunday. “I was very shut off from the rest of Philly basketball. When Perkiomen reached out, I took that opportunity and was like, this is what I want to do in college.”

Haugh committed to attending Perkiomen, and in addition to leaving home and transitioning to living a more college-style life, he left behind volleyball and football.

Haugh also had to adjust to a different role on his new team. As a junior at New Oxford, he would have been one of the primary players in the Colonials offense. At Perkiomen, Haugh spent his junior year coming off the bench.

Initially, Haugh’s lack of playing time made him unsure of his decision. But it didn’t take long for him to see that it was a part of a bigger development plan for his game.

“Once I started to get the speed of the game, I realized why I wasn’t playing, what I needed to do better to get on the court, and what I needed to work on,” Haugh said. “After realizing all that stuff, I knew this was the right spot.”

Haugh’s first season at Perkiomen coincided with one of the program’s best seasons in recent history. In a COVID-19-shortened season, the Vikings went 11-1 and defeated several notable programs, including a Westtown School team led by Jalen Warley and Dereck Lively II. Though he didn’t play much in games, Haugh was getting valuable reps in practice against Perkiomen’s Division I-bound players.

» READ MORE: Dereck Lively secures his legacy as a winner with his second state title at Westtown

No longer able to rely on pure athletic ability alone, Haugh was forced to improve his skill game and strength in order to compete against the higher level of competition. It was in that process that Haugh displayed his coachability.

“He was starting to find different ways to be crafty and compete,” said John Williams, a Perkiomen assistant coach. “From a post presence, I think that’s part of why he’s so gritty and strong defensively in the post.

“He’s so coachable. You can coach him hard. He does it right; he’s really attentive. When you tell him something, he’s able to go out and do it.”

Alongside a group that included Virginia guard Ryan Dunn and Princeton guard Xaivian Lee, Haugh as a senior was able to learn how to play effectively with high-level competition. He grew into his offensive game and started to play more aggressively on defense.

That season helped the three-star power forward attract offers from the likes of Northwestern, Illinois, and Georgia Tech. Because Haugh had graduated from Perkiomen, many of the schools that recruited him wanted him to head to college right away. Haugh, however, had planned on taking advantage of Perkiomen’s postgraduate year to better prepare for the transition to high-major basketball.

» READ MORE: How George School’s Kachi Nzeh went from sprinter to fast-rising basketball recruit for Xavier

One school did think a postgraduate year would be the best fit for Haugh: Florida. Haugh had grown up a Florida fan, crediting Tim Tebow and Florida football for making him a Gators follower despite growing up in Pennsylvania. Though he had always looked to Florida as a dream school, he wanted to consider every option in his recruiting process.

After taking his official visit in Gainesville, however, it was clear that Florida posed the best fit.

“My dad told me to go on the visit and take this visit like I’ve never heard of this school or like I’ve never really wanted to go there,” Haugh said. “So, I took his advice, and it was everything that I thought it was going to be.

“I went there, and I loved the campus and the weather. [I] talked to a lot of the academic advisers, and I love what they offered academically, being one of the top public schools in the nation. … Playing SEC basketball is just awesome, and that was just solidified when I was on the visit.”

Once Haugh committed to the Gators, his focus turned to making the most of his final year at Perkiomen. He is now serving as more of a primary focus in the Perkiomen game plan.

“It’s been awesome so far,” Haugh said. “My offensive game I’ve seen develop a ton. It’s been good so far, and I think it’s just going to benefit me a ton going into my [freshman] year next year, having that role underneath my belt.”