Nevada WR Jayden Thomas went in-depth on his weekend commitment to Minnesota

Minnesota went on a major heater over the weekend, landing several commitments including Las Vegas (Nev.) Centennial wide out Jayden Thomas, who broke down why he chose the Gophers. 

Thomas is an exciting player that we’ve seen multiple times this off-season. He was a top performer for us back in March at one of the Overtime OT7 events and also looked good at the Under Armour Camp in Phoenix. 

He can really run and his 4.38-40 time at the UA Camp was one of the fastest times the entire tour. He has run several sub 11.0-100m times this spring as well with a personal best 10.88 and a 22.17-200m. 

“Minnesota made me feel like home before I even got there,” Thomas said. “They put so much effort and dedication in to recruiting me and that was a big reason why I committed there.

“I also really like their wide receiver development. Coach Fleck, Coach (Isaac) Fruechte (WR coach) and Coach (Nick) Faus (Ass. WR coach) are great coaches and I know I’ll be able to learn a lot from them.”

Thomas had a few other schools he was looking at and planning to visit and didn’t go in to the Minnesota trip expecting to commit. 

“My plan was to commit after I take all my trips,” Thomas said. “Going in to that visit, I wasn’t planning to commit  but after I got to meet the whole staff, see the facility, meet the players and the other recruits, I knew that was home for me.”

Gopher wide out Zion Steptoe was Thomas’ player host.

“Zion was great, I couldn’t have asked for a better host,” Thomas said. “He answered all the questions I had with honest answers and he did a great job showing me around the area as well.

“The whole team was great with me and I connected with everyone almost immediately. They were so welcoming, I felt like I was already on the team before I even committed.”

Thomas said the film session showing the scheme fit was another big plus. 

“I was looking forward to the individual meetings with the offensive staff for this reason,” Thomas said. “They did a great job of showing me how they would use me in their pro style offense.

“They made a personalized slideshow with my film and their film, showing me the routes I’m running. Then they showed me making big plays and then showed Gopher receivers making big plays off of the same concepts and/or routes and I loved that.”

As a junior, he caught 33 passes of 713 yards and 11 touchdowns and is electric with the ball in his hands. He’s a true home run hitter who can score from anywhere on the field.

In addition to the Gophers, Thomas was also set to visit San Diego State, New Mexico and UNLV but will no longer take those visits and is locked in with Minnesota.