Coveted OL Prospect Ethan Thomason Talks BYU Official Visit
This weekend, Colorado native and highly-touted offensive line prospect Ethan Thomason was on BYU's campus for an official visit. Thomason is familiar with BYU's campus and culture - he has been on campus a few times before.
Thomason was in attendance for BYU's win over Virginia last season. After the game, he was invited to the locker room. He was also on campus for one of BYU's Spring practices. During the practice, Thomason was invited on the field by offensive line coach Darrell Funk. Thomason shadowed Funk for most of the practice and watched the offensive line practice up close.
Credit: @EthanThomason77
On what made this official visit different from past visits, "It was a lot deeper," Thomason said. "Making more connections with the coaches and you can hang out with some of the players, you know, it was good to get to know some other people better."
Thomason was joined by three fellow high-profile recruits: Hunter Clegg, Jackson Bowers, and Walker Lyons. "It was also really nice to be in that setting with three of the other guys that are priorities for them," Thomason said.
During the visit, Thomason met with head coach Kalani Sitake. "I had a great conversation with coach [Sitake], Thomason said. "Me and my parents met in his office for over an hour and just talked about goals, the goals for BYU moving to the Big 12."
Thomason has received over 15 FBS during the recruiting process and he has spoken with dozens of college coaches. "You can tell you that he cares about you as a person," Thomason said on what makes Kalani Sitake unique as a coach. "He remembers some of the little things from previous visits that even I don't remember."
A few weeks ago, Ethan trimmed his list of final schools to eight: BYU, Utah, Colorado, Iowa State, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State. He has two more official visits planned this month to Utah and Stanford.
Thomason doesn't have a set decision timeline. "We'll see how these visits go," Thomason said. "I could commit to the coaches before the season and then make it public to a little later...I'm not too sure now. I still gotta figure that stuff out." Regardless of the timeline, Thomason is planning to take all five allotted official visits.
BYU's offensive line has been on the rise since Kalani was hired in 2016. Ethan fits the mold that BYU has recruited along the offensive line: he is long at 6'8, he is athletic, and he is physical. Adding players like Ethan to the pipeline would allow the Cougars to continue the forward progress as they move to the Big 12. BYU's staff will continue to make Thomason a top priority.