Football Recruiting
Report
Monday, June 2, 2014
By Sammy Batten |
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Linebacker Thomas primed for impact
Bruising tackler bringing knack for
disrupting offenses to Dowdy-Ficklen
Recruiting Class of 2015 Thumbnail Sketches...
By
Sammy Batten
©2014 Bonesville.net
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Danny Thomas could be considered a
football nomad because he'll have played for three different schools
before graduating from high school. But while Thomas's location has
changed frequently, his production on the field has been steadily
spectacular.
An outside linebacker who has produced an
amazing 64 tackles for losses over the last two seasons, Thomas has caught
the eyes of more than a dozen major college football programs that have
offered scholarships a full summer before the start of his senior year. But
the 6-foot-2, 220-pound product from south Florida turned down all those
offers on May 23 to join East Carolina's recruiting Class of 2015.
The decision ended a brief, but intense
courtship by the Pirates, who first made contact with Thomas last December
before extending a scholarship in January after West Virginia and Southern
Methodist had already offered. ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill eventually
sealed the verbal commitment by adding a personal touch in recruiting
Thomas.
"Their head coach and defensive
coordinator (Rick Smith) came down in like January,'' Thomas said. "Our
coaches put on my (highlight) film. They (McNeill and Smith) said they loved
me and offered on the spot. I didn't know much about East Carolina at that
point.
"But after that (offer), the head coach
was recruiting me. I didn't really appreciate that until I started getting
recruited by some other schools. East Carolina was the only one where the
head coach was recruiting me. He told me about their program, what I could
achieve there and how I could help out their team. He basically said I could
come in and make an impact early. He told me what a good education I could
get at East Carolina.
"That's the type of person I want to play
for.''
Thomas became the fifth player to make
his pledge to ECU — a sixth followed five days later when Mauldin, SC,
receiver Taz Richardson joined the class. He's the third defensive player
and second linebacker to commit to ECU (Abu
Kai Kai from Nokesville, VA, was first linebacker).
Making a college choice before the start
of his senior season was important to Thomas for a couple of reasons. First,
he's moved to Tallahassee, FL, where he'll join the program at powerhouse
Godby High School, which won the most recent of its four state titles in
2012.
Second, Thomas is planning to graduate
from high school in December so he can enroll at East Carolina for the
spring semester in January. He'll make his first visit to Greenville for the
Pirates' summer camp later this month.
"I wanted to be able to focus on my
senior season and help us win a state championship,'' said Thomas, who got
his start on the football field at age five in the local youth leagues. He's
been influenced heavily by a family boasting a strong football tradition.
His uncle, Eric Thomas, is a former
All-American high school quarterback in Florida. Cousins Kadeem and Khalid
Thomas both signed to play football for Kentucky, although both were
dismissed from the program in 2013. Both have since transferred to NCAA
Division II Alabama State.
Thomas' older brother, Ja'karri Thomas,
is a junior linebacker at Vanderbilt, while another brother, Denzel
Rodriguez, played in the junior college ranks at Ellsworth Community
College.
"Playing football is in my blood,''
Thomas said. "Everybody in my family plays, so I started playing at an early
age. There was a lot to live up to, but I think I've done pretty good so far
making my family proud.''
Thomas first started to make a name for
himself on the Florida high school football scene as a freshman and
sophomore starter for Piper High School in Sunrise, FL. Playing both running
back and linebacker as a sophomore for the Bengals, Thomas rushed for 526
yards and scored seven touchdowns in 71 carries while also collecting 87
tackles, 21 tackles for loss and five sacks.
Following his sophomore season, Thomas
made the switch last season to Cypress Bay High School in Weston, FL, where
he became one of the state's best defenders. He made an auspicious debut
with the Lightning in a nationally-televised season opener against
Plantation High by making a one-handed interception of a pass thrown by
nationally-ranked quarterback prospect Torrance Gibson and returning it five
yards for a touchdown.
Although Cypress Bay wound up on the
losing end of a 38-14 score, Thomas' stock suddenly took off after that
interception and a play later in the game when he shot through the line and
nearly disrupted a handoff in the backfield before dropping the back for a
five-yard loss.
Some compared the backfield play to the
one made by South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney in the 2013 Outback Bowl.
"People have compared that to Clowney a
thousand times,'' Thomas said. "I did hit the kid pretty hard. But that's
how I play. I play with intensity, I'm passionate and I'm a big hitter.''
Thomas completed his junior season with
111 total tackles, 14 quarterback sacks and an incredible 43 tackles behind
the line of scrimmage. The performance earned him a spot on Friday Night
Football Florida's All-South Florida Regional Elite first team, first-team
All-Broward County 8-A/6-A from the Miami Herald and second-team all-state
honors from The Associated Press.
In order to be closer to more of his
family, Thomas made the difficult decision to leave Cypress Bay after one
season for the move to Tallahassee and Godby for his senior year. He had
hoped to play at Godby under former Alabama and Florida State assistant
Ronnie Cottrell, who as head coach at Godby worked with his cousins Kadeem
and Khalid. But Cottrell resigned in early April and has since taken a job
at Chickasaw High in Alabama.
Thomas is expected to spend just one
semester at Godby before heading to ECU.
"I'm just going to keep working hard to
get better and stronger so I can become the ultimate player at (ECU),''
Thomas said.
E-mail Sammy Batten
PAGE UPDATED
06/02/14 03:50 PM.
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