Illinois Football: Illini transfer target Jeff Thomas is staying with Miami
It looks like the Illinois football team has missed out on the Jeff Thomas sweepstakes again.
Late on Tuesday, Thomas posted on his Instagram account that he has decided to stick with the Miami Hurricanes and not transfer to Illinois. He thanked the University of Illinois for giving him an opportunity to accomplish his dreams, but he is staying at “The U”.
Thomas would have been an amazing pickup for the Illini. He was a 5-foot-10, 175-pound wide receiver coming out of East St. Louis High School in East St. Louis, Illinois. He was a four-star recruit who was the No. 40 player in the class of 2017 and the No. 5 wide receiver in the nation. He was also the No. 2 player in the state of Illinois as well.
The first year at Miami, Thomas had 17 receptions for 374 yards and two touchdowns. He improved on those numbers last season, though. He caught 35 passes for 563 yards and three touchdowns in 2018. Despite his success and playmaking ability, he also had some issues at Miami as well. He was even kicked off the team by the previous coaching staff. But, the new coaching staff apparently wants him, so he decided to return to the Hurricanes.
Listen, I am not going to lie to you, I would have loved to have had Thomas on the Illini. He is a superstar talent who will do great things this year for Miami, and then he will go on to be a great NFL player as well. Sometimes you just have great ability and that is what Thomas has.
But, Thomas wasn’t in the plans for this program originally. We didn’t recruit based on him being in Champaign. He was an extra piece who would have been nice to have. The fact that he changed his mind again isn’t a big deal. Whatever makes him happy is fine with me. I wish him nothing but the best.
It would have been amazing to have him in the Orange and Blue. But, Illinois will be okay. This rebuild is on track for success in the near future.