Who is Jermaine Thomas
Duarte (Calif.) two-way standout Jermaine Thomas is one of the fastest rising players in the West. Thomas is getting looks on both sides of the ball and has a handful of offers on the table right now.
Thomas, 5-11, 170 pounds has had a monster year on both sides of the ball. The athlete has 50 catches for 1,114 yards and 14 touchdowns and 27 carries for 347 yards (12.8 ave.) and two touchdowns.
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Defensively, he has 51 tackles and eight interceptions including two he returned for touchdowns plus three punt returns for touchdowns, one kickoff return for a score and one fumble recovery for a touchdown.
"I have 22 touchdowns and actually had a bunch called back for penalties too," Thomas said. "I'm really happy how the season has gone so far. Our team is doing well, we have a CIF semi-final game this Saturday and personally, I feel I've had a good year too.
"Right now, everyone is recruiting me for defense as a cover corner. I really don't have a preference, just whatever gets me on the field the fastest."
On the recruiting front, Thomas has offers from Nebraska, Washington State, Fresno State, Kansas, Utah, UNLV and Nevada.
"Washington State, Nebraska and Fresno State are my top three right now," Thomas said. "I have trips set with all three but they're kind of tentative depending on how we do in the playoffs.
"Right now, I have Washington State set for (Dec. 8), Nebraska (Dec. 15) and Fresno State (Jan. 12). If we win this Saturday, we'll have a CIF championship game on December 9 so I won't be able to make a visit that weekend.
"I want my first visit to be with Washington State, I already told them I would do that. So if we win, I would visit WSU (Dec. 15) and move Nebraska tot January. Coach Walker from Washington State came in for a home visit last night and it went really well.
"He talked to me a lot about what a nice college town Pullman is and how much the city really supports the sports teams. He said you're kind of away from everything so it's easy to focus on school and you can just get your job done.
"With Nebraska, they're a great program and I love their tradition. That's big time football there. Fresno State plays with an attitude and I like that about them. They always come after you and play with a swagger and I think I would fit in well there too."