Post by victor2111 on Oct 18, 2007 22:04:50 GMT -5
Buckeyes get another very good player and they said they will use him like they did with Ted Ginn.
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Lamaar Thomas has ended all the speculation by selecting to attend the Ohio State University over Illinois and Maryland during a live press conference that was held at halftime of the Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Alabama A&M game. Thomas called Scout.com ahead of time to give us the scoop.
Well there has been a lot of people making predictions on where speedy prospect Lamaar Thomas, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound athlete from Friendly High in Fort Washington, Md., would wind up. Fans of Illinois, Maryland and Ohio State all had reasons to be optimistic bout their chances.
Illinois had the power of super recruiter Mike Locksley in their corner. Locksley has been able to reel in some great prospects like Arrelious Benn from the area to play in Champaign.
Maryland is the home-state school and not only would they allow Thomas to play running back, but they would also provide the accessibility for all of his friends and family more opportunities to watch him live.
In the end Thomas felt that the Buckeyes offered the total package and it was a “Block O” hat that the Maryland speedster would don during a press conference to announce his collegiate intentions at the ESPN Zone during the halftime of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Vs. Alabama A&M game.
"I will be playing my college football at the University of Ohio State," Thomas exclaimed as he donned the OSU cap.
Thomas will be coming in as a receiver/athlete and while he was on his official visit the coaching staff presented him with a number of different offensive sets that they could utilize him in with their current schemes. That went a long way with Thomas as he was likely leaning towards playing running back in college.
Thomas also admitted that he really enjoyed the time he spent with the coaches, recruits, players, and former players during a star studded session of the Ohio State summer camp.
“Anthony Gonzalez worked with me on my route running,” Thomas informed of the cam experience that elevated Ohio State toward the top of his list. “I picked up a lot of stuff I never knew before.”
“There was nothing I didn’t like about it on either one of my visits there. I felt really comfortable, like it was a family environment with the coaches and all of the other recruits,” Thomas said.
“I went out for dinner with the other recruits families and it felt like I was one of their sons.”
Thomas, who is a Scout.com four-star prospect, finished his junior season with 42 carries for over 800 yards and also caught 22 balls for over 350 yards.
Ohio State has told Thomas they will use him like former Buckeyes star Teddy Ginn – as a gamebreaking receiver who can also receive the ball in a variety of ways and possibly return kicks and punts. He has blazing speed, running the 100 meters in 10.3 seconds, and would like to run track in college.
“I’ll play wide receiver, but they’ll also get me the ball in the backfield and on punt and kick returns, get me the ball out in space,” he said.
After being blown away by his September visit to Columbus, Thomas was clearly favoring Ohio State . He kept his options open, but the Buckeyes never fell from the top spot, and earlier this week he told his father he was ready to make his decision – one he’s extremely unlikely to change; he waited this long to commit because his family wanted to make sure he was certain about his decision and wouldn’t have second thoughts after announcing.
“I feel like a huge weight is lifted off of my shoulders and I don’t have to concentrate on recruiting any more, I can just focus on everything else,” he said.
He joins Ben Buchanan, Mike Adams, Jacob Stoneburner, J.B. Shugarts, DeVier Posey, Devoe Torrence, Garrett Goebel, Michael Brewster, Nic DiLillo, Andrew Sweat, and Nathan Williams as the 12 players who have already committed to sign a Letter of Intent with Ohio State.
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This might be Tressel best class since he join Ohio State. I read somewhere at the end we will have 16 players in this class. 12 down..4 to go.
Here is a break down of his class:
WR:
Stoneburner 4*
Posey 5*
Thomas 4*
TE:
DeLillo 3*
OL
Brewster 5* #1 C in HS
Adams 5* #2 OT in HS
Shugards 5* #6 OT in HS
RB:
Torrence 4*
DL:
Goebel 4*
Williams 4*
LB:
Sweat 4*
K:
Buchanon 3* 4th best kicker in HS
Go Bucks!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lamaar Thomas has ended all the speculation by selecting to attend the Ohio State University over Illinois and Maryland during a live press conference that was held at halftime of the Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Alabama A&M game. Thomas called Scout.com ahead of time to give us the scoop.
Well there has been a lot of people making predictions on where speedy prospect Lamaar Thomas, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound athlete from Friendly High in Fort Washington, Md., would wind up. Fans of Illinois, Maryland and Ohio State all had reasons to be optimistic bout their chances.
Illinois had the power of super recruiter Mike Locksley in their corner. Locksley has been able to reel in some great prospects like Arrelious Benn from the area to play in Champaign.
Maryland is the home-state school and not only would they allow Thomas to play running back, but they would also provide the accessibility for all of his friends and family more opportunities to watch him live.
In the end Thomas felt that the Buckeyes offered the total package and it was a “Block O” hat that the Maryland speedster would don during a press conference to announce his collegiate intentions at the ESPN Zone during the halftime of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Vs. Alabama A&M game.
"I will be playing my college football at the University of Ohio State," Thomas exclaimed as he donned the OSU cap.
Thomas will be coming in as a receiver/athlete and while he was on his official visit the coaching staff presented him with a number of different offensive sets that they could utilize him in with their current schemes. That went a long way with Thomas as he was likely leaning towards playing running back in college.
Thomas also admitted that he really enjoyed the time he spent with the coaches, recruits, players, and former players during a star studded session of the Ohio State summer camp.
“Anthony Gonzalez worked with me on my route running,” Thomas informed of the cam experience that elevated Ohio State toward the top of his list. “I picked up a lot of stuff I never knew before.”
“There was nothing I didn’t like about it on either one of my visits there. I felt really comfortable, like it was a family environment with the coaches and all of the other recruits,” Thomas said.
“I went out for dinner with the other recruits families and it felt like I was one of their sons.”
Thomas, who is a Scout.com four-star prospect, finished his junior season with 42 carries for over 800 yards and also caught 22 balls for over 350 yards.
Ohio State has told Thomas they will use him like former Buckeyes star Teddy Ginn – as a gamebreaking receiver who can also receive the ball in a variety of ways and possibly return kicks and punts. He has blazing speed, running the 100 meters in 10.3 seconds, and would like to run track in college.
“I’ll play wide receiver, but they’ll also get me the ball in the backfield and on punt and kick returns, get me the ball out in space,” he said.
After being blown away by his September visit to Columbus, Thomas was clearly favoring Ohio State . He kept his options open, but the Buckeyes never fell from the top spot, and earlier this week he told his father he was ready to make his decision – one he’s extremely unlikely to change; he waited this long to commit because his family wanted to make sure he was certain about his decision and wouldn’t have second thoughts after announcing.
“I feel like a huge weight is lifted off of my shoulders and I don’t have to concentrate on recruiting any more, I can just focus on everything else,” he said.
He joins Ben Buchanan, Mike Adams, Jacob Stoneburner, J.B. Shugarts, DeVier Posey, Devoe Torrence, Garrett Goebel, Michael Brewster, Nic DiLillo, Andrew Sweat, and Nathan Williams as the 12 players who have already committed to sign a Letter of Intent with Ohio State.
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This might be Tressel best class since he join Ohio State. I read somewhere at the end we will have 16 players in this class. 12 down..4 to go.
Here is a break down of his class:
WR:
Stoneburner 4*
Posey 5*
Thomas 4*
TE:
DeLillo 3*
OL
Brewster 5* #1 C in HS
Adams 5* #2 OT in HS
Shugards 5* #6 OT in HS
RB:
Torrence 4*
DL:
Goebel 4*
Williams 4*
LB:
Sweat 4*
K:
Buchanon 3* 4th best kicker in HS
Go Bucks!