Photo Credit: Harley Taylor
Virginia Tech sent out a few offers to 2021 running backs this week including one to Malachi Thomas of Hartwell, GA.
#Hokies become the first Power 5 offer for RB Malachi Thomas https://t.co/T5WE3LIBOW
— The Tech Lunch Pail (@techlunchpaild) May 8, 2020
Thomas told us that he was "filled with excitement and thankful to God for blessing me" in regards to receiving a Virginia Tech offer. The offer was also his first Power 5 offer with that meaning a lot to Thomas, but being unclear about what it will mean for VT's standing in his recruitment.
"It means a lot for them to be my first P5 offer but for right now, my recruitment is the same and I’ll figure out how everyone stands out to me in the future," Thomas said.
Thomas received the offer via a phone call with RBs coach Adam Lechtenberg that went quite well as a whole because of the relationship the two had been building.
"It was good. We just talked how he was happy that we got to know each other very well," Thomas said.
This also isn't a new, sudden interest from the Hokies who have been showing interest in Thomas since last fall as he told us.
"I had a lot of interest because we have been getting to know each other since the beginning or middle of my football season," Thomas said.
One of the most interesting things about Malachi Thomas is not only the fact that he's quite productive as a runner, but also extremely versatile. The stats back it up as he had 1,942 rushing yards, 638 receiving yards, 282 return yards, and 36 total touchdowns in what was clearly a dominant season for him.
Thomas has not visited Virginia Tech previously, but VT is one of the schools he mentioned that he hopes to visit along with UCF and Appalachian State though he added that he hopes to visit most of the schools that have offered him.
Additionally, UCF and Appalachian State are two of the four schools Thomas said had been recruiting him the hardest along with Western Kentucky and Georgia Southern. However, now that the Hokies have offered him, it seems likely that they will quickly increase their amount of contact with him while UVA could be next to offer him as Thomas told us.
Keep an eye on Malachi Thomas as the Hokies look to add a running back to their 2021 class.
