On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine: Notre Dame trending for EDGE Loghan Thomas
Katy (Texas) Paetow four-star EDGE Loghan Thomas is ready to make his college commitment, announcing on Tuesday that a decision will come Wednesday evening around 5:45 p.m. ET.
More than 20 schools, including Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Southern California, Georgia, Colorado, Ole Miss and Texas have extended offers.
But ahead of his decision, one team is trending heavily in the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM): the Fighting Irish. After a slew of expert picks over the past few days, Notre Dame holds a 96.1 percent chance of securing his commitment.
On3 ranks Thomas as the No. 101 overall player, No. 9 EDGE and No. 23 player in Texas.
The On3 Industry Ranking – a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services — evaluates Thomas as the No. 169 overall player, No. 11 EDGE and No. 31 player in Texas.
The Fighting Irish offered Thomas back in January after a standout performance at the All-American Bowl National Combine. He took a multi-day visit to South Bend in March, a trip that really solidified mutual interest between him and Notre Dame.
“I was a little skeptical,” Thomas told Blue & Gold after the visit. “I was up there for a couple of days. So, I was like, ‘I don’t know what I will do for three days on a visit.’ I would do just everything in one day. … But I actually didn’t even want to leave at the end of that. That stuck out to me — the fact that I was there for three days, and I was still eager to spend time with them.”
He returned again for a second unofficial visit in May, and already has an official visit locked in for June 9.
Culture, campus separate Notre Dame from the pack for Loghan Thomas
Thomas visited a half-dozen other programs over the past year, including multiple trips to Texas Tech and Oklahoma, as well as Texas A&M, Texas and Ohio State. But the culture, atmosphere and coaching staff separated Notre Dame.
“It’s a beautiful campus,” he told Kelly. “For some reason, it just really caught my eye. The facilities weren’t the newest, but walking in there, we felt the school’s history.”
He was also just as impressed by the Notre Dame coaching staff. Al Washington, the program’s second-year defensive line coach, made the biggest impression.
“I like him as a coach a lot,” Thomas said. “But I like him even more as a human being. He’s very outgoing. Not self-centered. I can tell that he wants the best for me when it comes to life after football. Not everything is just about football — it’s about developing me to be a better man.”