THE RECRUITING GUY: Florida athlete high on academics

One of the top central Florida junior prospects, athlete JaCorey Thomas received a scholarship offer from the University of Arkansas in June after talking to special-teams coordinator Scott Fountain and receivers coach Justin Stepp.

"He said he wants me at receiver at Arkansas," Thomas said of Fountain. "He walked to Coach Stepp's office, and they were just talking about me and my film."

Thomas, 6-1, 190 pounds, of Orlando Boone has 10 other offers from Miami, Auburn, Tennessee, Nebraska, Kentucky, Central Florida and others. He's rated the No. 9 prospect in the The Orlando Sentinel Central Florida Super60 for the 2022 class.

He had 20 receptions for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns as a sophomore while also returning 5 kickoffs for a 23.2-yard average and returning 7 punts for a 8.3-yard average.

While playing nickel corner, Thomas, who favors playing defense, recorded 78 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, 4 forced fumbles, a recovered fumble, a pass breakup and an interception.

Thomas said he stays in contact with Fountain and Stepp, whom he calls "highly energetic."

"I felt the vibe was good with them," Thomas said.

He and Boone had their season opener Thursday night against Orlando Dr. Phillips. Thomas isn't ready to say what interest level with Arkansas.

"I think it's too early because I want to stay focused on my season, but Arkansas is a really good school and the coaches are really nice," Thomas said.

CBS Sports Network national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming is high on Thomas.

"JaCorey is a very good athlete, one of the better athletes in Central Florida," Lemming said. "He's also an outstanding basketball player. I have him rated as a 3-star plus prospect."

Thomas, who has a 3.8 grade-point average, said education is stressed in his home.

"My mom is a school teacher," he said. "My mom and dad both graduated from Florida State."

His mother, Danyetta put her foot down when Thomas slipped on some on his academics last year.

"It was during basketball season," said Thomas, who plays small forward for his high school. "The first two quarters I did well in grades and the third quarter I chilled out a little bit and got behind too much, and I had to sit out our rivalry basketball game."

An admitted momma's boy, Thomas appreciates his mother.

"She's a very strong woman," Thomas said. "She's been raising three children on her own. So I try not to put much stress and pressure on her and try to take everything off of her and try and do things myself."

Education will play a big role for him choosing a school as well as his mother.

"Whatever my mom feels. If she feels comfortable with a school, and she feels like it's fine and likes the school, I'm down with it," Thomas said.

Thomas is intrigued by criminal justice and is considering majoring in the field while in college.

"I'm taking a forensics science course right now," he said. "That's pretty interesting to me. I go to a magnet school so I have a magnet class. There's three magnets at my school: Law, criminal justice and finance. I'm in the criminal justice magnet."

Email Richard Davenport

at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

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