By all accounts, Nebraska has done a solid job on the recruiting front thus far in the 2016 recruiting cycle. The Cornhuskers have already filled over half of their recruiting class and are in a good position with multiple prospects as they head into the final four months of recruiting. Nebraska has reeled in some big names along the way, such as one of the most highly touted safeties in the nation in Marquel Dismukes and possibly the top guard prospect in the country with John Raridon. However recruiting isn’t all about reeling in well-known blue chippers; oftentimes it’s the under the radar recruits that take a class from good to great. One example is Scooby Wright, who came to Arizona as an unheralded 2-star recruit and blossomed into the best individual defender in the nation in 2014 while leading the Wildcats to the Fiesta Bowl.
Nebraska may have found their own unheralded gem in a young man from Van, Texas, by the name of Aphonso Thomas. Thomas committed to the Cornhuskers in May of 2015, choosing Nebraska over offers from Colorado State, Nevada, and Kansas. The young man received only a two-star rating from some national recruiting websites despite having a breakout junior season in which he ran for 934 yards and 12 touchdowns on only 106 carries. It was bewildering to see a young man look so dominant in the talent-rich state of Texas yet receive such little attention from recruiting services and collegiate programs alike.
Thomas has gotten off to a blazing start to his senior season, rushing for 756 yards and 11 touchdowns, while averaging 7.4 yards per carry. Most importantly, he has led his young Vandals team to an impressive 4-1 start, with their only loss being by one point to Lindale High School. I was able to sit down and talk to Aphonso Thomas about his season thus far, why he chose Nebraska, and how his relative lack of national attention motivates him.
We began by talking about the Van High School Vandals impressive start to the season and how Thomas felt he had performed five games into his senior year. Thomas stated that he uses a calm and relaxed approach to motivate and encourage his teammates, “I try to let them know that if you relax and have fun playing, the game will come to you and everything will fall into place.” When asked about his own individual performance, Thomas graded himself at a 6 out of 10, stating “I believe I can do better.”
When questioned about his low recruiting ranking and lack of attention from collegiate programs, Thomas stated, “It could be them (recruiting websites) thinking that I’m not very good or it could be me not being the best at marketing myself. Either way it does motivate me, I want to prove all of my doubters wrong.”
When asked about what made Nebraska the school for him, Thomas stated that a strong connection with Nebraska running backs coach Reggie Davis, as well as Nebraska’s impressive track record of preparing running backs for the NFL, made Nebraska a perfect fit. “I really like coach Davis and I feel that Nebraska is a good running back school, I mean look at Ameer Abdullah.” Thomas stated that he speaks with Coach Davis on a weekly basis, with topics covering his performance both on and off the football field.
Inquiring about his strengths and weaknesses on the football field, Thomas stated that his explosiveness was his greatest strength, and that he felt he still needed work as a receiver out of the backfield. “My explosiveness and power is probably my biggest strength, and my biggest weakness would probably be catching the ball out of the backfield because I’ve never had a chance to catch anything other than screen passes.” When asked about which professional running back he patterned his game after, Thomas stated that he was a fan of Minnesota Vikings stud running back Adrian Peterson.
Despite his commitment to the Cornhuskers, other programs have not yet given up the chase for the talented running back. Thomas stated that SMU made him an offer last Monday. Thomas is still trying to find time in his busy schedule to officially visit Nebraska. It would give him an opportunity to see the Husker facilities and get to know some of his fellow 2016 Husker commits that he has not yet been in contact with. Thomas will be graduating a semester early, allowing him to enroll in spring classes at Lincoln and participate in spring ball. That will give him a great opportunity to catch up on the playbook and battle for carries in Nebraska’s talented backfield. When asked if he had any final words to say to all of his future Husker fans, Thomas kept things simple, “Go Big Red!”
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