With South Carolina in his final two, defensive end target sets commitment date
Defensive end Bryan Thomas Jr. of Winter Garden, Florida said Sunday night that he has cut his list to Carolina and West Virginia. He will make his commitment announcement a week from Monday.
Thomas (6-2 215) will take his official visit to USC this weekend. He took an official visit to West Virginia in June. He also camped with the Gamecocks in June. Florida International and Marshall were the other two schools on his previous short list.
“It’s really about interest and defensive scheme,” Thomas said. “I like the way coach (Mike) Peterson (USC) and coach (Jordan) Lesley (WVU) coach. They show me the most love. Me and my family talked about it. We put the pros and cons together. I just came down to those final two schools.”
Thomas said he and Peterson have been in regular contact. They last talked on Saturday with Peterson congratulating him on his performance Friday night. Then they got down to some recruiting talk.
“He said I’m versatile and I can get to the passer,” Thomas said. “I’m more of an attack person, not read and react. He likes how I get to the ball. He said I’m very coachable, so he wants to have the chance to coach me.”
Thomas said he also talked with Gamecock head coach Shane Beamer on Saturday. Like Peterson, Beamer told him he can’t wait to have him in for his official visit this weekend.
“He basically just alluded to what coach Peterson said,” Thomas said. “He basically said the same thing, that I’m versatile, my get-off and my hands and technique are all good, and they would like to have me.”
Thomas’ father spent several seasons in the NFL, so he has an appreciation for the talent it takes to play in the league, and what a player can take away from that experience. Peterson also had a lengthy NFL career, and that’s a bonus for the Gamecocks as he measures the two opportunities.
“Coach Peterson was in the NFL for a lot of years, and he knows the game like the back of his hand,” Thomas said. “There’s nothing wrong with learning from somebody with experience from the bottom to the pros. And Columbia is a beautiful town. People are nice. The players, I got to meet some of them. I got to meet Jaycee Horn, and that was cool. Very nice people and very nice coaches. They all get along.”
Thomas said his parents and younger brother will join him on the visit. He has a game Friday night, and their plan is to leave after that and head to Columbia.
Gamecock recruiting news and notes
▪ CB Nick Cull of Donalsonville, Georgia, who had a USC offer and took an official visit there in June, committed to Ole Miss.
▪ Greenville QB Pro Franklin said Sunday night he remains in constant contact with USC QBs coach Marcus Satterfield. Franklin, who has thrown for over 500 yards and 8 touchdowns in the first two games, said there’s a good chance he’ll be at USC for Saturday’s game.
▪ USC offered 2024 RB Stacy Gage (5-11 200) of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
▪ Basketball prospect Elijah Saunders (6-foot-8) of Phoenix named a top five of the top five of USC, San Diego State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Miami. He made an official visit to San Diego State over the weekend and will visit each of the others over the next four weekends. USC will get the final visit on Sept. 24.
▪ RHP Logan Plasencia (6-4, 225) of Weston, Florida committed to USC. Perfect Game had this scouting report on him: “Big and strong build. Compact arm action from a high 3/4’s arm slot, plenty of upper body lean to let his arm through, has very good arm speed, some energy at release, gets good downhill angle to his pitches. Fastball topped at 93 mph, gets nice arm side running life at times and works down in the zone consistently, primary fastball pitcher. Threw a soft curveball as his breaking ball, likely to develop a slider at the next level as arm action not conducive to a curveball. Strike thrower who works quickly.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 8:18 AM.