Freshman guard Josh Gomes surprised Ohio Valley Conference leader Morehead State when he came off Eastern’s bench to score 18 points in 28 minutes Saturday.

For his strong game against Morehead, Gomes has been selected this week’s “Top Cat.”

Surprising people is nothing new for freshman guard Gomes; he has been proving himself to new people ever since high school.

In the summer before his senior season at Heritage Christian High School in Indianapolis, Gomes was told his eligibility had run out because they had switched to the Indiana State Athletic Association.

The nearest school Gomes could find was over an hour away in Frankfort, Ind.

“My old high school coach was helpful in finding me that school and even drove me to school everyday,” Gomes said.

The Gomes family is used to commuting at the high school level because Josh’s father did the same thing as well and made his son more confident with the decision.

“If my dad had to do it, I suppose I could too,” Gomes said.

Gomes put up nearly 30 points per game at Frankfurt Christian High School, but Eastern didn’t even attempt to recruit him until the final recruiting week at a tournament in Louisville, Ky.

“I had one of my best games that day while coach (Samuels) was watching, came back for some AAU games and then took me on two unofficial visits,” Gomes said.

Gomes introduced himself to Panther fans Saturday night by scoring 18 points and relieving pressure from OVC preseason player of the year Henry Domercant.

“We obviously knew that he had it in him,” Domercant said. “It wasn’t a shock.”

Gomes came to Charleston thinking he would essentially be a sixth-man contributor right away for the Panthers, but it took more time in practice learning the motion offense than expected.

“He came in with a maturity to his game already so he’s never really made all those common freshman mistakes,” Domercant said.

Gomes was frustrated by the period of the non-conference schedule in which he was benched for nearly eight games.

“I came into Eastern and everybody was stronger and knew the offense better,” Gomes said. “I came to the realization that I had to work harder in practices.”

Gomes benefited from talking with Domercant.

“I sat down and talked with him and his goals weren’t that impossible,” Domercant said.

Gomes may only be averaging only four points per game, but he will be looked upon as a big weapon when the OVC Tournament rolls around.

“You’re going to want as much firepower as possible in March,” Domercant said.

Eastern (11-12, 6-5) still has five games left on the schedule, but Panther fans shouldn’t be surprised if the 2003-2004 team improves with Gomes as a leader.

“I think that people believe we are going to be rebuilding next year, but we have a chance to be better with Emanuel Dildy and myself,” Gomes said.

Gomes will also find himself in the precarious position of having to lead a team as sophomore after losing five seniors.

“He’s going to have to step up next year because that leadership role will be forced on him,” Domercant said.