Former East St. Louis (Ill.) wide receiver Jeff Thomas announced his intentions to transfer to Illinois in a Friday night tweet, giving the Illini a big time play-maker for their offense.
Thomas had a breakout sophomore season at Miami in 2018, catching 35 passes for 563 yards and 3 touchdowns. His 16 yards per reception ranked No. 9 in the ACC conference. Thomas caught 5 passes for 132 yards in the season-opener against LSU. He also averaged 22.4 yards per punt return.
As a prep star for the Flyers, Thomas was the No. 57 prospect in the class of 2017 and the No. 1 prospect in the state of Illinois. He committed to the Hurricanes on national signing day, helping to give Miami the 11th ranked recruiting class in the nation.
Thomas will apply for a waiver from the NCAA to be eligible next season, according to Illinois head coach Lovie Smith.
"Jeff Thomas is an elite level football player who we expect to make an immediate impact with the Fighting Illini program," Smith said in a press release. "We know he is excited to return to his home state. This continues a string of great players from East St. Louis coming to the University of Illinois. We recruited Jeff extremely hard out of high school, and when he contacted us about the possibility of returning home, we were immediately interested in making his wishes come true. We will fully support his efforts for immediate eligibility at Illinois."
Thomas put on a show at the Under Armour All-American game, hauling in three passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns while setting the game’s record for most receiving yards. He named Illinois his leader following that performance, but a visit to Miami sealed the deal for the Canes.
The Fighting Illini were looking for help for a receiving corps that struggled this past season, and Thomas gives them one of the fastest players in all of college football.
Lovie Smith continues to upgrade the overall speed an athleticism of his squad. Thomas joins new signees Isaiah Williams and Marquez Beason as plus athletes who join the team next year. He gives the Illini a home run threat in the passing game, something the team lacked this past season.
The Illini are heavily involved in the transfer market. Illinois is also assumed to be a possible destination for Georgia tight end Luke Ford. Ford is a former in-state four-star prospect who considered Illinois coming out of Carterville (Ill.) in the class of 2018. Oklahoma wide receiver A.D. Miller, a grad transfer, is also an option that Illinois may pursue.
