Fast rising DT will take visit No. 4
Fast rising Fred Thompson (6-4.5, 296, 4.96) from Oakland (Calif.) Tech knew that colleges were sleeping on him and his talented teammate Ryan Murphy, but it is safe to say that both players from Tech have awakened many teams in the Pac 10.
Thompson didn't have his season stats, but with all the interest he is getting from Pac 10 schools they must have been pretty good.
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"I don't know the exact amount, but I had a lot of tackles," Thompson said. "I know that for a fact.
"They (coaches) didn't tell me exactly how many sacks I had, but I remember two games where I had four sacks," Thompson said. "In most every other game they have told me I had at least three sacks. I probably had more than 15 sacks.
When you can bring heat from the inside, it is no wonder that he is becoming such a name on the recruiting trail. He has offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State. He may have a pending offer from another Pac 10 school.
"UCLA made almost like a verbal offer to me," Thompson said. "They want me to come down for a visit in January.
"I just got back from Washington today (Sunday December 6th)," Thompson said. "It was a good trip. It was real fun.
"I like the intensity that Washington brought," Thompson said. "I was able to see how they prepare for a home game. Their intensity was real high.
"In their meetings they are yelling and get intense while watching film," Thompson said. "I was getting pumped up. I like the intensity that the coaches bring."
"I have also visited Arizona and Arizona State," Thompson said. "I will visit Oregon State this coming weekend.
"My trip to Arizona was also good," Thompson said. "It was my first. All the schools that I have visited are neck-to-neck until I take all my visits and then sit down with my family to evaluate on where I want to go.
"Arizona State was cool," Thompson said. "They make it clear that if you come in, you're going to get a chance to play early. It's not like certain guys have jobs because what year they're in.
Thompson is a guy who does his research. He even knows a little about his upcoming visit to Oregon State and a little about UCLA who may get his last visit.
"One thing I know about Oregon State," Thompson said. "Is there coaches are really down to earth. They are some really good guys.
"I just beginning to learn more and more about UCLA as I go along," Thompson said. "I do know UCLA's recruiting coach (Wayne Moses), he's really nice and he's a real good guy.
Thompson was benching 315 during the summer before his senior season and that is a pretty good left when you consider that he has long arms.
Thompson was League Defensive Player of the Year and was first-team all-city as a junior. He made first-team all-city as a senior. Interesting enough, according to Thompson his league didn't have defensive Player of the Year in 2009.