How Oklahoma WR Commit Elijah Thomas Fits the Culture Brent Venables is Building in Norman
Hailing from Checotah, OK, 4-star wide receiver Elijah Thomas grew up an Oklahoma fan.
Now a high school junior, the 6-foot-1 playmaker has garnered offers from a number of big-time programs around the country, including Alabama. Yet, the Sooners still won in Thomas' recruitment, landing a commitment from the coveted pass catcher back in July.
It wasn't Thomas' childhood fandom that made him pick OU, however, it was his fit with the culture that Brent Venables and company have built in Norman.
Thomas' head coach at Checotah High School, Zac Ross, praised his star wideout's leadership, adding that Thomas is an extremely unselfish player.
“The first thing is you’d probably see that he’s a leader. He knows every position on the field and we move him around quite a bit," Ross told AllSooners. "He’ll go get any ball that’s thrown to him. The biggest thing to me is that he celebrates his teammates when they make plays too.”
Another aspect of Thomas' leadership is displayed through his mentorship of the younger players on the Wildcats’ roster. Thomas and his coach both said he takes freshmen under his wing, helping the first-year players get adjusted to high school football.
When asked about goals for his senior season, Thomas said he wants to help the younger players on the team get ready to see the field when it's their time to shine. This is one of multiple ways that Ross said Thomas takes on a leadership role within the team's locker room.
"I want to get our team better and get the freshmen ready for when they’re going on to high school," Thomas said. "So they’ll be prepared for whenever they’re in my position."
In addition to being a positive voice in Checotah's locker room, the star playmaker is very involved in his local community.
Aside from mentoring some of the younger players on his own team, Ross said Thomas often attends middle school and youth football games to show his support to the younger crop of athletes in his hometown.
"One of his biggest goals is to show people that they can do the same thing. Sometimes those athletes can be pretty distant from everyone else because they are so good, but he’s kind of the opposite, he wants to be available to everyone," Ross said.
"He shows up to youth football games on Saturday mornings, he’s reaching not just the high school kids. He’s at junior high games, he’s at youth football games, the whole community sees him. He really cares about this community and wants to leave it better."
This is exactly the type of personality that Venables and company are trying to bring into Oklahoma's program. The former Clemson defensive coordinator has done a good job thus far of establishing this culture in Norman and looks to recruit prospects who fit this same mold.
Aside from his off-the-field fit at OU, landing a talented in-state receiver was huge for the Sooners' recruiting efforts. Rated a 4-star prospect, Thomas is ranked as the No. 106 overall player and the No. 20 wide receiver in the 2025 class, according to Rivals.
The Checotah star also said he has a good relationship with Oklahoma wide receivers coach Emmett Jones, who visited Thomas recently for one of his basketball games.
"I’d say I’m pretty physical, I’m a good route runner, I run pretty hard," Thomas said. “I think (Jones) likes to throw deep balls, get the ball out there a little bit. Score from deep."
Thomas is one of three wide receivers in the Sooners' 2025 recruiting class, joined by 4-star Gracen Harris from Ennis, TX and 4-star Jaden Nickens from Oklahoma City. In addition to the talented wide receiver trio, Oklahoma also has 4-star quarterback commit Kevin Sperry on board in the upcoming cycle.
Thomas said he and Sperry have gotten the opportunity to briefly work out together, but said he has developed the closest relationship with 2025 defensive line pledge Ka'Mori Moore.
Thomas will be at OU's Elite Junior Day on Saturday, where he will have the chance to meet the Sooners' new play caller, Seth Littrell, for the first time.
With Thomas' athleticism and Littrell's history of explosive offenses, the two have the potential to be a perfect match. As a whole, Thomas' personality, leadership skills and talent level should fit well with what Venables and company are building in Norman.
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