JUCO LB Keaton Thomas Commits to Baylor Over Arkansas, NC State, WVU

Northeast Mississippi C.C. JUCO linebacker Keaton Thomas‍ gave his pledge to Baylor while on his official visit this week. Thomas gives Baylor’s 14 commits in the 2024 class and the second interior linebacker commit joining high school prospect, Kyland Reed.

Thomas chose Baylor over offers from Arkansas, Mississippi State, California, Colorado, Cincinnati, West Virginia, SMU, NC State and others. 

BAYLOR 2024 RECRUITING COMMITMENT LIST

Baylor offered a couple of weeks ago and was the first Power Five program to extend an offer to do so.

“They have a great staff and a head coach who has coached and developed a lot of elite talent,” Thomas told SicEm365. 

Thomas has built a strong relationship with Baylor’s linebacker coach Christian Robinson as they have known each other for many years at multiple different stops. Robinson has been his lead recruiter during this process.

“We have history. I came to camp at Florida a couple times and he liked me during his tenure there. I was just under recruited and a late bloomer to be honest,” Thomas said. “He watched my tape, loved what he saw and thought my game would help the team a lot in all phases.”

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound prospect posted 107 tackles, 10 for loss, 1.5 sacks, and two interceptions in 2023.

According to 247Sports, Thomas is the No. 3 linebacker in the junior college ranks. Earlier this week longtime commit Bo Tate flipped his commitment from Baylor to Stanford so the staff quickly turned its focus to the talented JUCO prospect.