Football Recruiting: Simeon Thomas commits to Florida International

The Florida International Panthers just received a huge in-state commitment from top 60 three-star safety Simeon Thomas, who is arguably one of the top 125 recruits in the state of Florida. Thomas chose FIU over offers from UCF, USF, West Virginia, Ole Miss, LSU, and Florida State. And yes, those are some big offers.

December 20, 2011; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Fiu Golden Panthers head coach Mario Cristobal during the second half of the Beef

The decision that Simeon Thomas made to commit to Florida International is absolutely huge for the Panthers, as he has been a heavily recruited safety on a national scale. I mean, two huge programs in in-state FSU and SEC powers LSU offered him.

Buffalo, Akron, South Alabama, and Marshall represent his lower offers. Major programs that showed interest in Thomas include Rutgers, Clemson, Miami, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Louisville, Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas. As you can see, Thomas has been looked at by quite a bit of SEC teams. In fact, some outlets reported Clemson, Florida, and Rutgers as major teams to have offered him.

The 6’3″, 185 pound safety from Miami was a standout at Miami’s camp a couple of months ago and also attended camps at FSU, LSU, Ole Miss, UCF, and USF. The heavily recruited star from Miami Carol City High recorded over 60 tackles and picked off three passes last season. Simeon Thomas had a high amount of interest in Miami, but the in-area school never offered the three-star recruit.

Thomas runs a 4.67 forty with a 4.25 shuttle time, but the number that stands out the most on his sheet is 36- that’s his vertical. FIU was the team that went the hardest after the top 60 safety, and they got their prize today.