FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas took its best shot this weekend at trying to flip an LSU defensive line commit into playing for them in future Battles for the Boot.
Spanish Fort, Ala., standout Justin Thomas (6-5, 260), on course to graduate in December and enroll in college in January, took an official visit this weekend to Fayetteville along with his linebacker teammate Thomas Johnston (6-2, 220).
The pair were part of a crowd of 73,786 fans that saw the Razorbacks rally to take down Ole Miss 34-30 Saturday night in a thrilling SEC contest at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
“It was a crazy environment,” noted Thomas, a three-star prospect per ESPN.com. “Really loud. It was great. I just had a great time.”
Thomas was also very high on Arkansas’ infrastructure.
“I liked all the facilities,” Thomas said. “They had great facilities. I definitely liked all the food they fed us. All the fans show you a lot of love around here.”
He knows that the opportunity for early playing time at Arkansas is available.
“The opportunity to play early is crazy,” Thomas said. “That is what I want to do anyway - come in play early. So with all the D-line leaving, I would have to come in and produce to get on the field fast.”
Thomas, the stepson of former Alabama offensive lineman and current Spanish Fort assistant coach Atlas Herrion, was part of a defense that led Spanish Fort to a 15-0 mark and a state championship last season.
He had 55 tackles, including 11 sacks during that championship season.
Thomas’ Toros (6-2) downed Saraland 33-7 Thursday night in a game televised on ESPN2 night.
“Best thing I do is probably pass rush,” Thomas said. “I think the thing I probably need to work on a little bit is run stopping.”
Thomas plans to take official visits to just three schools - Arkansas, Alabama and LSU.
“I will probably take an official to Alabama,” Thomas said. “I will probably take one to LSU and that’s all. Right now, I don’t have any more plans.”
Things have changed at LSU since he committed with Tigers head coach Les Miles being ousted and assistant Ed Orgeron elevated to the top spot on an interim basis.
“I think they have been doing a little bit better since Coach O has been elevated as head coach,” Thomas said. “He has definitely made a lot of improvement.”
Thomas and Johnston hope to play together in college.
“I want to play with him in college,” Thomas said. “That (Arkansas) is a school that will have a chance of us playing at the same college.”
Spanish Fort defensive coordinator Tony Stonicher has high praise for Thomas.
”He's as good a player as I've ever coached at his position," Spanish Fort defensive coordinator Tony Stonicher told AL.com. "Justin has the perfect body type for a pass rush, outside edge player. He can rush the passer. He can drop into coverage if you need him to do that as an outside linebacker type. Kids who can do that are just few and far between.”
Spanish Fort head coach Ben Blackmon echoed that sentiment.
"Justin is a big-time guy with a small-time mentality," Blackmon told AL.com. "What I mean by that is that he is really down to earth. He's been a great teammate and leader. He's worked hard all summer to get better and help make us better. He's really focused on being an even more dominating force on the defensive line for us."
Stonicher said Thomas poses a number of problems for opponents.
"Really, there are only two ways you can play him," he said. "You can put a tight end on that side to help chip him, and most of the time that doesn't work. You can try to have a running back block him, but most aren't big enough.
"Teams will have a plan, but we will counter by putting him in different places where they can't pinpoint where he will be all the time. We've worked a lot on that this summer. As the year goes by, we will probably be more diverse in moving him into positions to make plays."