'09 MS ATH Dennis Thames (Mississippi State Verbal)

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Louisville (MS) Louisville High School

Ht: 5-foot-11
Wt: 175 lbs
Forty: 4.4 secs
Bench max: 230 pounds
Squat max: 345 pounds
Vertical: 26 inches
Class: 2009 (High School)

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3/17

By S. Robertson. Southern Miss, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Michigan have offered.


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Scout.com: Great Vision

By Allen Wallace
National Recruiting Editor
Posted Apr 9, 2008

"Mississippi State is only like 30 minutes from here and I watched them all the time," Dennis Thames said. "I would go there all the time and I know all the people there pretty well. I feel at home there and right now they are recruiting me the most." Thames says that Mississippi State was also the first school to offer him last August and he'll be attending their junior day as well.

Continued...

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4/10

By Y Porter.

The "jack of all trades" athlete from Louisville helped lead the Wildcats to a State Championship which had been missing on their resume for almost two decades.
Continued...

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5/13

By S Robertson. Mississippi State (offer), Michigan (offer) and LSU (no offer) lead. He plans to take summer visits to Miss. State, LSU, Michigan, Auburn, and Ole Miss. Thames will wait until after his season to verbal.

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5/20

Dennis Thames, the 6-foot, 183-pound safety/wide receiver from Louisville, Miss., continues to favor Mississippi State solidly over Michigan, LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss. All of his favorites offered except LSU.

Thames admits he grew up following LSU and is still hoping the Tigers offer. "I've always watched them on TV and have always been a big fan of theirs," he said. "I'd love to go there, but they haven't offered. I'll just wait and see what happens. They invited me to their camp and I'm gonna go and do my best."

Thames is going to have a busy summer because besides the LSU camp, he also plans to attend camps at Michigan, Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

"I'm going to go to as many camps as I can this summer," he said. "I want to find good coaches to play for that are good teachers and will help me get better."

One school that Thames is looking forward to visiting in particular is Michigan. "They are a big school and I like the new spread offense they are gonna run," he said. "I think I'd fit in really well in their offense and I'd love to play receiver for them. They've talked about both offense and defense, so we'll see."

Either way, in-state favorite Mississippi State is going to be hard to beat. "They are only 30 minutes away and I'd prefer to stay close," he said. "It would be nice to be able to come home during the weekends

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Tigers connection could have big payoff for Michigan | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Southeast Michigan is one place Louisville, Miss., athlete Dennis Thames can play his college football where most will know how to pronounce his phonetically misleading surname. Rivals.com ranks the 5-foot-11 175-pound safety/running back prospect as the No. 218 football recruit in the country. He is also the nephew of Tigers outfielder Marcus Thames.

"We're real close," Dennis said of his relationship with his uncle. "He's right there, not far away from Michigan. My uncle could go to another team and he wouldn't be there, but him being there right now is good.”

But will Thames commit verbally to play for the Wolverines in 2009? Michigan offered Thames a scholarship this past spring, seeing his speed, athleticism and ability to play several positions as an ideal fit for the offensive and defensive schemes being employed by Rodriguez. Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn and a host of other schools have also offered Thames a scholarship and are under consideration.

Connecting with recruits on a personal level is one of the keys to building great recruiting classes. When Rich Rodriguez hired former Southern Miss defensive coordinator Jay Hopson to coach his linebackers at Michigan, an ancillary benefit was the Mississippi native’s ability to recruit his home state. Prospects like the four-star Thames comprise a deep pool of prep football talent in Mississippi, and Hopson is familiar with the territory.

Mississippi, however, has traditionally been (and remains) a very difficult state from which to pry recruits. A major component of the culture is the strong family bonds that exist among its inhabitants. Luring recruits away from the state requires enough of an attraction to overcome the apprehension of leaving family to play in another state.

Michigan coaches found recruiting Mississippi difficult when the Wolverines hosted Philadelphia, Miss., defensive tackle Josh Boyd for the entire length of their summer camp in June, only to see the four-star prospect verbally commit to Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom two weeks later.

Michigan may have a stronger football tradition and a greater chance of winning a national title than programs like Mississippi State or Ole Miss, but having Thames’ uncle residing so close to the Ann Arbor campus could be the key to signing the him.

Thames was set to fly out from Mississippi Monday evening to Detroit to stay with his uncle while the Tigers were slated to begin a six-game home stand. Thames’ itinerary also includes a visit to Michigan’s campus to meet with coaches and players and also check out facilities, the campus and academics.

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toledoblade.com -- Tigers' Polanco becomes citizen before game

STADIUM NEAR YOU: Dennis Thames is living the life of a big leaguer this week while spending time with his uncle, Tigers outfielder Marcus Thames.

But he could hit the big time on his own in 2009 as a University of Michigan football player.

Thames, 18, a safety and running back from Louisville, Miss., is entering his senior year of high school as the country's No. 218 college football recruit, according to Rivals.com. He said he toured the UM campus in Ann Arbor on Tuesday and met with some Wolverines coaches, notably defensive coordinator Scott Shafer.

The younger Thames said he left his visit impressed.

"They sounded like nice coaches, good coaches to be around," Dennis said while seated in front of his uncle's locker, dressed in Tigers baseball pants and hat before batting practice. "Michigan would be my No. 1 right now. They've come at me the most and recruited me."

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7/14

From TheWolverine...talks about spending the week in Michigan with his uncle Marcus Thames of the Detroit Tigers and about his time with the coaches at UM. Talks about what interests him in UM and says they are in his top 3.

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8/11

By S Robertson. Thams is focused on school and isn't ready to make his choice anytime soon. Michigan, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Auburn are on the top of his list. LSU is his leader, though they haven't offered nor are they in contact.

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Five Questions with ... Dennis Thames of Louisville | clarionledger.com | The Clarion-Ledger

Q: Speaking of college, what's up with your recruiting?

A: Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Auburn, Michigan, Southern Miss. I got a call from LSU this week. I wasn't there to answer, but I was very excited to get it. I really don't have an answer for my top choice right now. It's a big game Saturday with Mississippi State and Auburn. That'll be a good game to see how both teams are.

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1/8

From the Mississippi State site.....says that he will be visiting Southern Miss (Jan. 9), Mississippi State (Jan. 16) and Michigan (Jan. 23)

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1/17

Committed to Miss st.

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Mississippi State signee arrested here