Commitment Profile: Dymonte Thomas

Sorry if you saw the word 'commitment' in the title and got excited...unfortunately I'm just catching up on something I wrote but forgot to post in the wake of that epic Notre Dame game last month.
Name: Dymonte Thomas

Location: Alliance, OH

Position: ATH

Ratings: ESPN – 4* (40), Scout – 4*, 247 Sports - 4*

Notes: With early offers, you expect the recruit to be a strong player. Thomas will be at least a four star guy on most sites.

Recruitment: Dymonte Thomas is actually the cousin of current Michigan target, Brionte Dunn; which might of been how he first got interested in the Maize and Blue. Thomas has visited Michigan twice this year, with the first time being at the BHBBQ over the summer, where he proclaimed UM to be his leader shortly after. His second visit was of course to the epic UM-ND game where he no doubt got caught up in the moment and committed. Not to say that he'll reconsider his commitment at any time, just saying it's easy to see why he committed then.

Offers: Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Iowa, UCLA, Tennessee, Notre Dame and others - not bad for an early commit.

Stats: Currently weighs around 180lbs at 6’0. As a sophomore he rushed for 1641 yards with 17 TDs as well as 132 tackles and two interceptions on defense. He runs a 4.57 forty yard dash.

ESPN Analysis: None available.

Scout.com Analysis: None available.

Since the recruiting services don’t have evaluations on 2013 prospects yet, here’s a long quote from his high school coach:

"The thing about Dymonte is that he has two more seasons of high school left," Marlington head coach Ed Miley told Scout.com. "If he keeps on going the way he has so far, he could end up as both the leading rusher and tackler in Stark County history. Dymonte does great in the classroom and is very popular with his teammates. I see him as a safety at the next level, but he could do about anything really. He is a very physical player and a leader on this team."

Improvements: Hard to say this early on; although everyone would love to see him trim down that forty time to 4.5 flat.

Film Highlights: Link here.

Final Thoughts: Thomas will be listed as an 'athlete' on a lot of sites, but the general perception is that he'll play safety in college. He prefers defense slightly, but to be honest it doesn't matter where he plays because Ohio recruiting analyst Duane Long has already named him as the top safety and running back in Ohio for 2013. For the record, Long really doesn't understand why OSU hasn't offered him.
When he gets on campus, playing time will be initially tough to come by, as Michigan will have at least one solid starter in Thomas Gordon (Snr). Plus, by 2013 you would hope that at least one of MRob, Carvin Johnson or Josh Furman would have stepped up to replace everyone's favorite walk-on, Jordan Kovacs! Then we also have the 2012 commits of Allen Gant and Jarrod Wilson. However, Blake Countess has proved that if you work hard, it's not impossible to crack the two deep of that secondary!
Thomas' commitment gives Michigan a great start to the 2013 class, with two virtually guaranteed four star prospects. It's hard to get a grasp on the scholarship numbers right now, so we can't really say whether Michigan will take another safety in this class.
Finally, I've got to talk about Brionte Dunn. This commitment could have a huge impact on Dunn's eventual decision; as he and Dymonte are pretty close and often talk about playing together at the next level. Thomas will be recruiting him to Michigan at any chance he gets; as will a host of current UM commits based in Ohio. (Kalis, Wormley, Strobel etc etc)