Darshan Thomas’ first impression with his new team at Marist was not very good.

It was in the team’s Red-White scrimmage, and he didn’t dazzle coach Brian Hynes.

“He had a bad night,” Hynes said of Thomas. “We had a little bit of a tense locker room, we’ll call it. We talked about it all week, watched some film and went over rebounding.

“He can score, but he can also defend and he can rebound, and that’s what we need.”

Thomas, who transferred from Fenwick, made a much better impression Monday night in the first round of the District 218 Thanksgiving Tip-Off Classic in Blue Island.

The 6-foot-6 senior guard/forward scored 18 points, hauled down 14 rebounds — which pleased his coach — and added three blocked shots and a steal as the RedHawks opened the season with a 77-37 victory over host Eisenhower.

Stephen Brown, a 6-8 sophomore forward, scored 16 points and Marquis Vance came up with 13 for Marist (1-0), which finished with a massive 37-16 rebounding advantage.

Darrion Pippen, who was scoreless in the first quarter, led Eisenhower (0-1) with 18 points. AJ Abrams, the South Suburban Red’s reigning player of the year, left in the first quarter with an injury and the Cardinals already were down three regulars entering the game.

Thomas, who attended Fenton as a freshman during the pandemic and Fenwick his sophomore and junior years, acknowledged he didn’t take the scrimmage as seriously as he should have.

“We were kind of horsing around and weren’t really locked in,” he said. “But coming into this first game, we had to step it up. We needed to talk with each other and keep it real.

“Coach told me he wanted to see me do a little bit of everything, and I want to embrace that role.”

Brown, a heralded up-and-coming player, enjoys working alongside his new teammate and thinks he can learn from him.

“He brings in leadership, scoring, athleticism,” Brown said of Thomas. “He brings it all.”

Marist, which raced out to a 13-0 lead Monday and never looked back, is viewed by some as a team with question marks because of its youth. Hynes, however, sees the talent.

“Everyone talks about us like we’re a young group,” Hynes said. “To me, I forget the fact that we’re starting three sophomores. But they have experience and I’ve been around them so much, and bringing a senior leader like Darshan has really made our lot really special.

“Whatever our expectations may be, they really welcome it.”

Brown doesn’t think the team is too young. His expectations are high.

“We’re here to win it all,” he said.

Brown played wide receiver for Marist’s football team and caught the game-winning touchdown pass against rival Brother Rice in the second game of the year.

After the regular season, Brown did not participate with the RedHawks in the Prep Bowl playoffs, instead using the past several few weeks to play basketball.Junior forward Achilles Anderson did play for Marist in the postseason and just picked up an offer from Northern Illinois for football.

Thomas, meanwhile, is listed on multiple websites is an underrated player to watch. He’s getting serious looks from Concordia Chicago, Wabash and Central Missouri.

He would like to change that perception, but he doesn’t plan on forcing anything.

“I didn’t come here to be selfish,” Thomas said. “I can always get better. But where I’m at, I consider myself a little underrated. But being with this team, I’m going to get more looks from colleges.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.