Georgetown center Thomas Sorber’s season-ending foot injury in February robbed us of real impact moments for the freshman in March and what could’ve been a breakout postseason.
However, Sorber’s story is one of resilience and determination, inspiring confidence that he will be back better than ever. Despite the foot injury, he is widely projected to be a first-round pick.
Meet Thomas Sorber’s Mother, Tenneh, and Late Father Peter Sorber Sr.
Sorber was born on Dec. 25, 2005, in Trenton, N.J., to parents Tenneh Sorber and Peter Sorber Sr. His mother had fled from a war-torn Liberia to move to the United States, according to Joseph Santoliquito of City of Basketball Love, a Philadelphia basketball publication.
His father, Peter, was a soccer player and a coach with an imposing 6-foot-5 frame. Naturally, soccer also became Thomas’ first love.
However, Peter died of colon cancer in August 2013, when Thomas was seven years old, and everything came crashing down for the family. While Thomas had already started to fall in love with basketball, his father’s death prompted a complete switch to the sport.
He didn’t cry at his father’s death, Thomas told Santoliquito. He said he couldn’t grasp the magnitude of the loss at first, and when it did hit him, it was the first day of second grade, a week after the tragedy. Everyone had their fathers with them except Thomas, and he began crying, even contemplating quitting.
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“I had my father in the back of my head, and I was thinking about my mom, I was not going to run away,” Thomas told Santoliquito of the moment. “My father was gone. I couldn’t change that. I had to move forward.
“I suppose that six-year-old was a tough, brave little kid. It’s funny, I never thought about it that way until now. I stayed in school. I had a real excuse to leave, but I stayed. I think that helped me to heal. It helped me face reality.”
If anyone deserves the credit for Thomas’ success, it’s his mother, Tenneh. “My mom was really the one who had to play the role of mom and dad,” Thomas said, but she also raised two other children while simultaneously teaching at a primary school and working a day job.
Tenneh’s struggles motivated Thomas to navigate difficult situations and eventually rise to the top of draft boards. As he looked back at his journey, Sorber felt he had a target on his back: “Make my mom happy, [to] not have her work another day.”
Those targets are soon to be fulfilled, or perhaps have already been done, and Tenneh is proud of his youngest son. “Thomas is a special child,” she said when he was still in high school. “He’s my Messiah, my Jesus, my everything.”
