On the same day that the Bruins officially introduced Kodi Whitfield to their full-time staff, the new cornerbacks coach announced his first offer of a potential recruit.
Cabrillo College cornerback Zeke Thomas has received an offer from UCLA football, the defenseman announced on Twitter Tuesday. Thomas, who has played with the Seahawks at the community college level for the past two seasons, was on campus earlier in the week.
Thomas’ other offerings come from Ottawa University, Missouri Valley College, South Dakota School of Mines and Lincoln University.
Thomas has not published any other Division I offers to date. However, since he disclosed UCLA’s offer without publicly committing, there’s a chance Thomas expects more interest from other Power Five programs.
The defenseman from Soquel, Calif. has two years left of the game.
As a freshman in 2021, Thomas accumulated 45 tackles, four interceptions and 13 pass breakups. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound safety made the California Community College Football Coaches Association the team’s first Region II defense in 2022 after recording 48 tackles, 2.5 tackles for losses, two forced fumbles and nine pass separations had recorded.
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Thomas was the first defenseman to receive an offer from the Bruins since they officially introduced Whitfield on Tuesday. Reports first surfaced about the former Stanford star and Sacramento State assistant coach returning to Westwood – where he was previously an assistant – on Jan. 19.
Whitfield is taking on the post of cornerbacks coach, a position not seen on the UCLA staff in recent seasons. Brian Norwood has been the defensive backs coach for the past three seasons, but he wasn’t tagged in Thomas’ offer announcement tweet, nor in the photos Thomas posted of his visit to Wasserman Football Center.
Given his size, Thomas is likely to scoot to safety where the Bruins lose their two super senior starters – Stephan Blaylock and Mo Osling III. Kenny Churchwell III, Alex Johnson, William Nimmo Jr. and Bowling Green transfer Jordan Anderson are the veterans likely to shoulder most of the burden this season, but all will lose their eligibility to play in late 2023.
Rising sophomores Kamari Ramsey and Clint Stephens, along with Class of 2023 signee RJ Jones, appear to form UCLA’s young core in the position for now.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF ZEKE THOMAS/TWITTER
