Clemson Football Recruiting: Tigers are runners-up for Zae Thomas

Clemson Football has several target prospects announcing their college destinations now that the summer window for visits has ended.

Fort Lauderdale’s Gregory Xavier Thomas started the week with his announcement on Sunday.

Thomas is a member of the Seminole Tribe and therefore has been assumed to select Florida State for some time, but he has always included Clemson in his top schools.

As expected, Clemson was the runner-up.

Thomas, who goes by the name Zae, confirmed that he will be attending Florida State.

Thomas is preparing for his senior season at American Heritage High School. He is a 4-star safety prospect in the 247Sports Composite. He held 29 offers from FBS schools, including LSU, Miami, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

"Being the first in the tribe to play for Florida State on scholarship means a lot to me. But it’s more than just me. It’s for the generations to come. I want to inspire them. Me being mixed, black and Native American, is something that a lot of people in the tribe are. They are all gifted and I want to set an example that they can accomplish whatever they put their mind to and focus to."

- Gregory Thomas

As a Clemson fan, I want all the good prospects to choose the Tigers. As a Clemson fan, I prefer they not choose Florida State.

That said, I think this is very cool. I wasn’t aware that a member of the Seminole tribe had never had a football scholarship to play for Florida State.

Thomas goofed a little on Clemson during his announcement, but it was nothing compared to some of the things we’ve seen in the past from other prospects. In the big picture, he is handling this with a lot of maturity and seems to have a firm grasp on how monumental this is for reasons that go beyond football.

I can see why Clemson valued Thomas as a player and person, and I wish him all the best in Tallahassee.

More announcements come today from Hardy Watts and Cortez Mills.