At least for now, the status of an Oklahoma State player facing much bigger issues than football has been cleared up.
At the Big 12 Media Days Tuesday, Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy was asked about Devon Thomas, the true freshman who earlier this offseason was charged with a grand total of five felonies. While not mentioning the defensive back by name, Gundy stated that if a player isn’t on the latest roster distributed to the media, he’s not on the team.
“The roster that we handed out today are the players that will report next week,” the coach said. “And if there’s a player that’s not on that roster, then he’s not a part of our team.”
In late May, Thomas was initially arrested on a pair of felony complaints — armed robbery and shooting with intent to kill — following what appears to be a drug deal gone horribly awry. It was subsequently reported that three additional felony complaints were filed against Thomas: kidnapping, first-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Four other males — two 18 years of age, two 17 – were arrested on similar complaints.
It was subsequently revealed that Thomas had been charged with distribution of child pornography in the months leading up to his junior year in high school. Additionally, court documents showed, Thomas “had been referred to juvenile court… once before [the child porn charge], on July 6, 2011, on an allegation of an assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors ultimately declined to file a charge on that allegation.”
Thomas, an early enrollee, was a three-star member of the Cowboys’ 2014 recruiting class, rated as the No. 30 running back in the country by Rivals.com. He participated in spring practice and was expected to make an immediate contribution to the Cowboys’ defensive secondary.
(Photo credit: Rivals.com)