KILLEEN, Texas -- One look at the frame of Killeen (Texas) Shoemaker defensive end Rahssan Thornton is enough to understand why the consensus three-star prospect is drawing attention from all over the country.
Rahssan Thornton has 5 schools standing out
An upcoming visit to his “dream school” could loom large in his recruitment.
SB Nation Recruiting caught up with Thornton following the Shoemaker spring game last week to discuss his recruitment, which currently features five schools standing out: LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Texas. After watching his teammate, Kendell Jones, commit to Alabama on Friday, Thornton said that he plans on having a choice ready before his senior decision and is looking for somewhere he feels at home.
Before then, several visits and several possible offers could loom large in his recruitment.
Alabama
Head coach Nick Saban often likes to get prospects on campus for a summer camp before extending offers and Thornton isn’t sure if that’s the plan right now, but the Alabama staff told the Shoemaker staff that they do like him as a prospect.
“I’ve been working hard,” he said. “Not having an offer isn’t going to stop me from working hard for that offer, especially since my teammate is committed there. When you go to a school or away from home, you always want to have a piece of home.”
LSU
“Getting the offer from the Tigers meant a lot to me because I’m from New Orleans originally,” he said. “My family, most of them, have gone to school there and played there. It’s part of the family.”
Thornton called it his “dream school,” but his trip to Baton Rouge the last weekend of May will be his first.
“I’m looking for a good relationship with the coaches,” he said of his visit expectations. “I want to see a good relationship with the players so I know that they’ll take care of me if I’m in a bad situation. Plus, I want to check out my major and see if I can visit with one of the professors.”
Michigan
The fact that Jim Harbaugh is the new head coach there stands out for Thornton, as well as the relationship that the staff formed with the Shoemaker product from the beginning. The Wolverines were one of his first offers back in early February.
“It means a lot to me because, honestly, because they set me up for thinking, ‘Wow, I can actually play at this level.’ I didn’t think my recruitment was going to take off this much,” he said.
Thornton added that he plans on visiting Ann Arbor in August.
Oklahoma
“I didn’t expect to get an offer from them, but surprises happen,” he said. “I’ve watched Oklahoma for a long time and they’re a great team.”
Thornton would like to visit Norman at some point, perhaps for a summer camp, but does not currently have any set plans.
Texas
The Longhorns said that Thornton has an offer waiting for him once he makes it back down to campus with his father. Thornton visited for the Junior Day back in February, but his father just got a new military assignment, so the two haven’t had a chance to return to Austin.
“What Coach Strong preached to us is that he wants to make us into men and then focus on football,” Thornton. “They have a lot of father figures on that staff. They stress on how they want us to go to class and the way he stressed it, I know he’s serious about it because that’s the type of person that he is.”
