'09 OH OL Hugh Thornton (Illinois Verbal)

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Oberlin (OH) HS

Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 285 lbs
Forty: 5.13 secs
Vertical: 26 inches
Shuttle: 4.65 secs
GPA: 3.5

Originally Posted by Scout Bio

Transferred to Oberlin his senior year from Mountain View High in Meridian, Idaho, where he was a standout o-lineman in football and took the 285 pound state wrestling title as a junior.

Scout.com: Six-foot-five hoss has Wulff, Cougars on top

By BARRY BOLTON
Cougfan.com Senior Editor
Posted Apr 30, 2008

SURE, HE'S 6-FOOT-5, weighs 290 pounds and can run. He's a state wrestling champion, and he's athletic and agile out on the gridiron. Most prep offensive line prospects with those kinds of attributes garner interest from the Cougars. But how does a guy in Ohio get a Washington State offer? Meanwhile, he also has a leader..

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Thornton has early offers from Washington State, Akron and Bowling Green. He's seeing increasing interest from Michigan State and Michigan, and plans on unofficials to Ohio State, Michigan and Bowling Green in the near future.

RP Discussion Links:

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5/5

Illinois has offered and he is interested.

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5/15

From O&B News...was focused on Washington State when he was living in Idaho, but now says he has turned his attention to Illinois. Has had coaches from Michigan State, Michigan, Illinois, Washington State, Akron, Kent State, Bowling Green, Miami (OH) and Boston College stop by his school recently.

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5/27

By Crabtree...has added offers from Indiana and Michigan State...info on his performance at the NIKE combine in Oakland.

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6/5

From O&B News...has offers from Michigan State, Indiana, Akron, Bowling Green, Illinois, Washington State and Oregon State. This OSU could be close to offering. Plans to camp at MSU and Illinois.

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Hugh Thornton - Oberlin Video

New video as of 7/1/08.

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From BP:

Originally Posted by osugrad21

BN$--Is Thornton A Candidate For An Ohio State Offer?

Hugh says he likes tOSU but has to focus on the schools that have offered.

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7/6

From O&B News...ND has picked up their contact. Favors Illinois, Michigan State and Washington State. Talks about his contact with the Illini staff.

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7/9

From Peegs...has offers from Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, Washington State, Oregon State, Akron and Bowling Green and is hearing from OSU and Boise State. Looking for a good sociology department and talks about his contact with Coach Johnson at IU.

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7/25

From the Oregon State site...talks about Ohio State and Michigan State's camps...favors Washington State and Illinois but says he is also considering Oregon State.

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Tempered by tragedy - NCAA Football - Yahoo! Sports

By Jason King, Yahoo! Sports
51 minutes ago

OBERLIN, Ohio – The letters arrive each afternoon now, and Hugh Thornton knows they’d make Mom smile.

Ohio State and Illinois one day. Indiana and Michigan State the next. If only he could read them to his mother, Michelle, or his 8-year-old sister, Marley, who were murdered four years ago while Hugh slept in a nearby room in their Jamaican home.

Hugh’s father Mark, who split with Michelle in 1995, is aware his son is one of the top football recruits in the country, but they haven’t talked much since Hugh fled Boise, Idaho in March. His five-year stay with his dad was broken up by a pair of stints in foster care.

“My dad hit me,” he said.

Hugh, 17, believes nothing like that will happen here, in Oberlin, Ohio, a freckle of a town just outside of Cleveland where he now lives with his aunt Lydia. At 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds, Hugh is already being hailed as the top prospect in the history of Oberlin High School. He’s been named team captain without playing a single down.

Still, for Hugh Thornton, the ensuing months are about more than fitting in with a new team at a new school. They’re about starting a new life.

“Somehow, some way – despite all that’s happened to him – he’s still sitting here with every opportunity in the world in front of him,” Oberlin coach Dave McFarland said. “It’s one of those stories so crazy that it’s impossible to make up.”

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8/18

From O&B News...still holds offers from Illinois, Oregon State, Washington State, Indiana, Michigan State, Akron, Bowling Green and others. Says Illinois is his favorite and says he may make a decision after his first game.

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Link

High school football: Oberlin?s Thornton chooses Illinois

Shaun Bennett | The Chronicle-Telegram

The day before the start of the high school football season, the area got its second Big Ten player commitment and this one comes from a player who hasn?t officially played one down here.
Oberlin senior tackle Hugh Thornton has orally committed to play for Illinois ? following Vermilion tight end Derek Hoebing?s decision last month to play for Michigan State ? and can now focus on his senior season with the Phoenix.
?It?s more than just focusing on my senior year,? Thornton said. ?It takes a lot of stress off of me and now I have something to strive for ? playing in the Big Ten.?
The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Thornton transferred to Oberlin from Idaho midway through his junior season, and Phoenix coach Dave McFarland began hitting the phones to get the recruitment process started.
?Illinois was the first school to respond,? McFarland said.
Run-game coordinator and offensive line coach Eric Wolford came to Oberlin to meet with Thornton, but really didn?t know a ton about the potential Illini recruit.
?He just wanted to come and talk to me and learn a little more about me,? Thornton said. ?After we met, he went into the library and watched my highlight film (on rivals.com) with my coach and the principal. Then he met me after my next class to tell me that I had a scholarship waiting.
?It put a big smile on my face.?
Cont...

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9/9

By Trieu...talks about why he chose Illinois and the timing behind his verbal.