Biggins on Thomas -- The "Latest"
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:17 pm
Biggins offers up some information :
It seemed like the minute Crenshaw (Los Angeles, Calif.) athlete DeAnthony Thomas committed to USC back in the spring, there was talk that it was shaky and he was going to look around at other schools. Things seemed quiet on that end the last few months, but after Thomas officially visited Oregon last weekend, there is now serious talk that his commitment to the Trojans could be shaky at best.
Thomas is a national recruit and talented enough to play for any school in the country. When he initially committed to the Trojans, Thomas said he would still like to do some visits, but the feeling was always the athlete would not be leaving home and the only school with a shot to steal him was UCLA.
When things cooled between Thomas and the Bruins midway through last season, his recruitment seemed over. Now it appears Trojans fans will need to sweat things out until signing day to see what the athlete will do.
Here's what we know as of Monday morning. Thomas did visit Oregon and the Trojans coaches were aware of the visit prior to him taking it. Thomas has not, at least officially, decommitted from USC and the coaches still view him as a commitment although they know they're in a battle.
At least two Trojans commitments have said they received text messages from Thomas saying he's now leaning to Oregon. An assistant coach at Crenshaw, who has been saying for months he felt Thomas would decommit, said a week ago that if Thomas took the visit to Oregon, there's no way he could turn them down.
One thing to understand about Thomas is he has always been an individual and not one to follow the crowd. When he was just 11 years old, he received a call from Snoop Dogg about joining his Pop Warner team but turned it down to stay loyal to his current coach. There is always pressure when you live in the inner city of Los Angeles, to attend USC but Thomas will make the decision for him and according to the same Crenshaw coach we spoke to before, his mother will have no problem with him leaving to play out of the area.
The timing of the visit is also worth noting. Thomas could have tripped to Oregon anytime, but picked the last weekend of January, which leads right in to the current dead period. Did Thomas or Oregon set up the visit this late to prevent USC coaches from being able to get in to Thomas' home, since home visits are not allowed during the dead period or was it merely a coincidence?
It's also ironic that just a week ago, it was Thomas' teammate and USC commit Marcus Martin that was in the news about potentially decommitting to Arizona or Colorado and now it's Thomas. One thing for sure, all eyes will be closely watching the Crenshaw campus on Wednesday and signing day just got a lot more interesting.
It seemed like the minute Crenshaw (Los Angeles, Calif.) athlete DeAnthony Thomas committed to USC back in the spring, there was talk that it was shaky and he was going to look around at other schools. Things seemed quiet on that end the last few months, but after Thomas officially visited Oregon last weekend, there is now serious talk that his commitment to the Trojans could be shaky at best.
Thomas is a national recruit and talented enough to play for any school in the country. When he initially committed to the Trojans, Thomas said he would still like to do some visits, but the feeling was always the athlete would not be leaving home and the only school with a shot to steal him was UCLA.
When things cooled between Thomas and the Bruins midway through last season, his recruitment seemed over. Now it appears Trojans fans will need to sweat things out until signing day to see what the athlete will do.
Here's what we know as of Monday morning. Thomas did visit Oregon and the Trojans coaches were aware of the visit prior to him taking it. Thomas has not, at least officially, decommitted from USC and the coaches still view him as a commitment although they know they're in a battle.
At least two Trojans commitments have said they received text messages from Thomas saying he's now leaning to Oregon. An assistant coach at Crenshaw, who has been saying for months he felt Thomas would decommit, said a week ago that if Thomas took the visit to Oregon, there's no way he could turn them down.
One thing to understand about Thomas is he has always been an individual and not one to follow the crowd. When he was just 11 years old, he received a call from Snoop Dogg about joining his Pop Warner team but turned it down to stay loyal to his current coach. There is always pressure when you live in the inner city of Los Angeles, to attend USC but Thomas will make the decision for him and according to the same Crenshaw coach we spoke to before, his mother will have no problem with him leaving to play out of the area.
The timing of the visit is also worth noting. Thomas could have tripped to Oregon anytime, but picked the last weekend of January, which leads right in to the current dead period. Did Thomas or Oregon set up the visit this late to prevent USC coaches from being able to get in to Thomas' home, since home visits are not allowed during the dead period or was it merely a coincidence?
It's also ironic that just a week ago, it was Thomas' teammate and USC commit Marcus Martin that was in the news about potentially decommitting to Arizona or Colorado and now it's Thomas. One thing for sure, all eyes will be closely watching the Crenshaw campus on Wednesday and signing day just got a lot more interesting.
