'09 MD CB Derrick Thomas (Penn State Verbal)

[FrankBooth]

Originally Posted by PSU42Fan

Fridge is likely gone...and a few verbals with him.

Why would a player commit to a school as they are about to lose their coach?

heh . . . I think twerps fans were wondering the same thing last spring as Thomas, Stanley and the other MD kids were committing to Penn State. Looks like JoePa will outlast another coach.

[AustinScottistheone]

Scout.com: Catching Up with Derrick Thomas

1/27

By John Wallpher (Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Analyst). Derrick talks about his recruiting experience, which schools he had considered prior to his commitment, and answers whether any other schools still recruit him or not. Discusses which position he will play at PSU, and his thoughts on the other PSU commits from Maryland.

[Salandrion]

any chance of him playing WR? apparently he has some skill at wideout

[AustinScottistheone]

Yes, he will play WR.

[Salandrion]

wow so if we get brown we will have thomas, brown and kersey potentially as a set. sounds pretty threatening to me : )

[psubills62]

I'm guessing we're not allowed to post full articles on this site, but I'm wondering if someone could snip some key quotes from this article:

Thomas eager to get to PSU=

I don't have a rivals subscription and I was hoping someone could let me in on what's going on with Thomas. Thanks.

[PSU42Fan]

Originally Posted by psubills62

I'm guessing we're not allowed to post full articles on this site, but I'm wondering if someone could snip some key quotes from this article:

Thomas eager to get to PSU=

I don't have a rivals subscription and I was hoping someone could let me in on what's going on with Thomas. Thanks.

Here's the gist:

- He is taking a course to pull up his GPA (poor grade freshman year).
- He will be at CB (quoted MM as saying they had 22 WRs in a meeting and only 5 CBs) and hopes to get PT at the nickleback position.
- He will report to campus on August 5.
- He has been trying to replicate the PSU workout program in order to keep pace with the members of his class that are already on campus.

[psubills62]

Originally Posted by PSU42Fan

Here's the gist:

- He is taking a course to pull up his GPA (poor grade freshman year).
- He will be at CB (quoted MM as saying they had 22 WRs in a meeting and only 5 CBs) and hopes to get PT at the nickleback position.
- He will report to campus on August 5.
- He has been trying to replicate the PSU workout program in order to keep pace with the members of his class that are already on campus.

Thanks for the summary. I was worried the article was talking about how he wouldn't be able to play this season or something.

I guess I'm not surprised that he's at CB, personally, because it seemed like they had a decent number of WR's coming in from the 2009 class. Plus with Coxson and Kenney from the 2010 class, it would be hard to get PT as a receiver, imo.

[HailToTheLion]

im pleased about that actually since our secondary has been getting torn apart wouldnt mind having givens, thomas and hodges holding down the fort back there...quality CB are hard to come by

[jayer]

Thanks 42!

[PSU42Fan]

Originally Posted by HailToTheLion

im pleased about that actually since our secondary has been getting torn apart wouldnt mind having givens, thomas and hodges holding down the fort back there...quality CB are hard to come by

The foursome of Givens, Morris, Thomas and Hodges would make a very nice secondary, IMO.

[AustinScottistheone]

Morelli OnLion: Media Day

Class of 2009: Derrick Thomas
Of Penn State’s cornerback commitments from the class of 2009, Greenbelt’s Derrick Thomas is the highest rated by Rivals.com, coming in as the No. 28-overall ranked cornerback recruit in the country.

On the same weekend of the State College NIKE Camp that safety prospect Stephen Obeng-Agyapong committed to the Nittany Lions in May, Thomas pulled the trigger as well, thanks in large part to his recruitment by Penn State defensive line coach Larry Johnson.

“He really was (big), because coach Johnson was one of the coolest recruiting coordinators,” he said. “He was there for me when I had questions, he had all the right answers. He was really committed to me, so I committed to them.”

A solid early commitment to the Nittany Lions in May, Thomas’ recruitment was the source of speculation throughout the summer months as rumors swirled that he was a possible decommit following an Outside the Lines segment aired on ESPN in July.

In August, Thomas put those rumors to rest and affirmed that he would stick with the Nittany Lions.

His senior season, Thomas was a first team all-state, all-county and all-conference selection in addition to second-team all-Metro recognition and an invite to play in the Crab Bowl in December.

Although Thomas is an accomplished cornerback, the four-star recruit did it all for Derrick Williams’ alma mater this season, scoring 16 touchdowns and picking up 923 total yards of offense.

Upon the completion of the season, Thomas was named as having the fifth-best ball skills for a cornerback by Rivals.com and the sixth-best overall prospect in Maryland for the Class of 2009.

[AustinScottistheone]

Penn State Football: Derrick Thomas' Freshman Adjustment | Bleacher Report