Six days ago, Tennessee picked up a commitment from one of their top targets on their recruiting board. Now, he’s sticking exclusively with the Vols, and he’ll be signing earlier than originally intended.
Omari Thomas, a four-star defensive tackle from Briarcrest Christian in Memphis, announced on Twitter on Sunday afternoon that his recruitment is “100% shut down” just six days after committing to the Vols. Thomas confirmed to 247Sports that he’ll be signing with UT during the early signing period this upcoming week, which is a change from his original plan to sign in February.
Recruitment 100% shut down #GBO? @Vol_Football pic.twitter.com/kpz8ZwnHGH
— Omari “Big O” Thomas? (@901_sxvxge) December 15, 2019
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound lineman chose Tennessee over Auburn and Texas A&M as his finalists during a ceremony at his school on Monday of last week. Thomas also holds offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida, LSU, and others.
Now, none of those schools matter, though.
Thomas is rated as the No. 105 overall prospect, No. 10 defensive tackle, and No. 4 prospect in the state of Tennessee in the 247Sports Composite rankings. His teammate at Briarcrest Christian, three-star running back Jabari Small, announced his commitment to Tennessee a day after Thomas pledged himself to the Vols.
With both Thomas and Small in the boat, the Vols now have five players from Memphis committed to them in their 2020 class. Thomas and Small join Whitehaven High School teammates Bryson Eason, Martavius French, and Tamarion McDonald as Memphis prospects committed to Tennessee in this cycle.
All in all, 10 of Tennessee’s 18 total commits in the 2020 class come from inside their own state borders.
Thomas was voted the Mr. Football award recipient for the DII-AAA classification of Tennessee high school football for his stellar senior season at Briarcrest. Small was a finalist for the award, as was 2021 Tennessee commit Elijah Howard.
The 2020 early signing period begins on Wednesday, December 18th and runs through Friday, December 20th.
You can take a look at our impact analysis report on what Thomas brings to Tennessee’s 2020 class here.
