Aug. 7, 2006
Nashville, Tenn. – The recruitment of Cam Thomas should have been a blockbuster. He had all the right qualities: incredible size, good athleticism, and a high skill level at a position of need (defensive tackle) for every major program. His hometown, Robbins, is less than 90 minutes from the three major Triangle college football programs and still close enough to South Carolina to be tantalizing for the Palmetto state’s top squads. Thomas could have been one of the “hat guys.” You know the type. The kind of player with a fistful of scholarship offers who delays his college decision until the morning of Signing Day. He could have sat down at a table with the hats of his three final choices and pretended, in front of a legion of cameras, to struggle with his decision. The drama over his choice probably would have inflated the ranking (he was ranked in the top 20 in the state by most services) he was given by the recruiting services that thrive off the hat guys.