Jalen Thornton Finds Exposure He Was Looking For At U-M's Big Man Camp
Class of 2019 Cincinnati Indian Hill strongside defensive end Jalen Thornton is still a bit of an unknown on the recruiting trail, only holding offers from four FBS schools.
Michigan’s Big Man Camp at the Big House last Saturday was the perfect event for players looking to gain exposure on the recruiting trail, and Thornton may have helped himself in a big way.
“I talked to Coach [Greg] Mattison as soon as I met him,” Thornton explained. “At the end, he told me I did a good job and had a good day. Hopefully we can grow from this, but as they say, they don’t just throw offers out there. They like to look at every single player and learn as much as they can about them, until they decide who to offer.”
Thornton likely caught the attention of the Wolverine coaches when he came out victorious in one of the competitions. He touched on that, and how unique it was to practice inside the Big House.
“It was great,” he said. “I got to meet up with some new players and hang out with them. The competitions went great today – I won one of them, so I must have been doing something right.”
Though the majority of the kids at the camp were local kids from inside the state of Michigan – and perhaps just outside – Thornton explained why it was beneficial to make the four-hour drive from southwest Ohio to Ann Arbor.
“Michigan is one of the biggest teams in the country, and they’ve had a lot of success,” he explained. “They have a great coach in Jim Harbaugh, and this is my first time up here, but I think I had a lot of success today, and I’d say it went pretty well.”
Though he is obviously trying to do what he can to make schools notice him, the 6-2, 242-pounder is staying levelheaded during the process, and clearly keeping his priorities in the right places.
“The recruiting process has been going pretty well, but I still have a couple years left in my high school career,” he explained. “But I’m blessed to be getting these offers, and I just have to take it one step at a time and keep doing what I’m doing.”
The Cincinnati native said the Michigan coaches’ message at the camp was to keep working hard, and that has also been the message of the schools who are pursuing him so far.
“They’ve just told me that they believe in me,” he said. “They want me to keep working as hard as I possibly can. It means the world to me that some of these top schools are already saying they believe in me at such a young age.”
Thornton has just one offer from a power conference school, West Virginia, but the Mountaineers’ program holds a special place in the hearts of the Thornton family.
“My dad played his college ball at West Virginia,” the defensive end revealed. “He tells me I can do whatever I want, and I can go wherever I want as long as I’m willing to put in the work.
“I’m one of the luckiest kids in the world – to not only have a father who cares so much, but who also knows the game inside and out. I like West Virginia and so does my family, and it would be pretty cool to play there. Like I said, though, I’m still focused on my high school career and when it’s time to make a decision, I’ll make the right one.”
Michigan’s Big Man Camp clearly served its purpose last weekend, helping a lesser-known player – in this case, Thornton – gain the exposure he was looking for.
But of course, according to the holier-than-thou NCAA and its immaculate leader Mark Emmert, recruits looking to gain college exposure at camps is a horrible, horrible thing.
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