Florida State landed one of the top recruits in the country on Signing Day when five-star linebacker Matthew Thomas signed his letter of intent to play for the Seminoles.
But in Thomas’ own words, he could have been sporting Cardinal and Gold instead of Garnet and Gold. In an interview with Josh Newberg of 247Sports, which you can read in its entirety HERE, Thomas explains that he was close to signing with USC. It wasn’t until his mom said she didn’t want to sign the NLI from the Trojans that Thomas went with FSU.
Here’s a portion of the interview:JN: So if your mom would have signed the papers you’d be a Trojan right now?
MT: Yeah, I would have been a Trojan.
JN: Are you upset about that?
MT: No I think everything works out how it’s supposed to. I’m going to make the best of my situation. It’s not like I’m unhappy, I really like Florida State. It’s not a problem, I’m happy with my decision.
The situation brings to mind what happened with Arkansas running back Alex Collins and his mother -- although it’s admittedly much less dramatic. Collins’ mom confiscated her son’s NLI from the Hogs on Signing Day to prevent him from signing it. Collins eventually signed with UA the next day with his dad.
It’s not completely uncommon for a parent to get involved in the recruiting process to the point of directly influencing where their son/daughter goes. Sometimes, they do have their kid’s best interest in mind. Sometimes they don’t.
Whatever the case may be in Thomas’ situation, Florida State isn’t going to complain.