Small town Tomball, Texas, home to everything from city slickers to farmers. People that usually pass through Tomball are either on their way to Houston, or they’re lost. This city doesn’t have too terribly much to offer in the ways of public attraction, but there must be something in the water here for all of these well-known names to have originated here.

Anyone from Tomball knows the names of people who have made it in the “real world” whose hometown is here. For being under known, this small town has put out some of the most talented people in the nation.

To begin with, everyone knows the name Jimmy Butler. Small town kid to all star player for the Chicago Bulls basketball team. Butler graduated in 2007 from THS and did not plan on going into the NBA. He joined a summer basketball league in the summer after his senior year and was noticed. He would then move on to Tyler Junior College and be recruited to Marquette, where he’d be drafted into the NBA in 2011.

“The Jimmy Butler I know today is not the Jimmy Butler that plays for the Bulls, but he’s Jimmy Butler my former student,” assistant principle Lisa Streat said.

Many of the teachers that have worked in the Tomball schools for a while remember either teaching or just seeing Butler. The NBA star was actually seen walking the THS hallways after school on Friday, February 6^th around 5 p.m. Butler didn’t come as a national basketball player, but rather as an alumni to cheer on the Tomball boys basketball team in their game against Brenham High School.

“I still appreciate him dropping by occasionally, because it shows that he still cares about THS and where he came from,” Streat said.

Butler loves what he does as an occupation, but he also loves his roots and coming back to support his family and friends.

Sports have always been a big tradition in Tomball, and perhaps that is why many very talented athletes are scouted from here. Major League Baseball player Troy Patton graduated from THS in the early 2000’s.

Patton played in high school and was in the nine round of the 2007 MLB draft, being picked by the Houston Astros. He pitched for the Astros for three years but switched to the Baltimore Orioles from 2010–2014, then he played for San Diego Padres in 2014. Patton’s mother works in Tomball High School’s special education department, and that keeps Troy connected to his hometown and school.

Another MLB player from Tomball is Clay Hensley. Hensley graduated THS in the late 1990’s and went on to play as the pitcher for the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, and San Francisco Giants. Hensley had a very successful career and keeps his roots in Tomball by returning occasionally.

From sports to music, our suburban town has made itself well known for producing many talented singers and musicians. A famous country band, the Eli Young Band, is known around the nation for their award-winning hits.

Mike Eli (lead singer) graduated from THS in the class of 1999. He was known to his classmates as Michael Diaz, not Eli.

The Eli Young Band was formed in Denton, Texas by graduates of North Texas University. The band went on to win several country music awards such as Academy of Country Music Awards Song of the Year and MusicRow Awards Breakthrough Artist of the year.

Another big name in music is Jimmy Needham. Needham graduated from Tomball High and attended Texas A&M University. Soon after, he decided to take on a solo Christian artist career. In 2013, Jimmy Needham released an album covering only old hymns, creating new versions of them. For a few years now, Christian contemporary bands have been covering old hymns and making them modern. Needham can be recognized as one of the first to do this new style. The first album of these sessions is called The Hymns Sessions, Vol 1. Needham has been a breakthrough Christian singer and song writer ever since.

In another form of entertainment, Tomball has produced some actors and film directors who have made it big. Actor Chad Brannon went to Tomball High School in the early 1990’s as a football and baseball jock.

Brannon was never very into the theater scene until one day when his friend dared him to audition for the school comedy “The Nerd.” Brannon ended up getting the lead role, which led him to take an interest in theater, which he would study at Sam Houston State University.

After a year and a half in college, Brannon moved to Los Angeles, where he would audition and get the role as “Zander Smith” in the soap opera General Hospital. Brannon would also go on to voice act and play minor roles in many films and television series.

Film producer Rowdy Stovall was born and raised in the Tomball area and graduated from THS in the late 1980’s. Stovall received a football scholarship for Stephen F. Austin in 1991, and would transfer to Texas Tech University in 1993. In his 1st season at Tech he suffered a career ending shoulder injury, so he moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter.

Stovall studied and became a film director and went on to direct his first feature film, Mexican Sunrise in 2005. Stovall received awards and produced more films after his first success. Stovall still produces and lives happily in his Texas hill country home with his family.

Many well-known artists and athletes have originated in small town Tomball, and undoubtedly there are rising stars throughout the school right now.