Another Name

Three solid sources have provided the name of another addition to the Class of 2013, although an Internet search for news of his commitment came up empty so it can't be 100 percent confirmed. The recruit is Class 2A all-state receiver/defensive back Sam Thompson of Alcoa, Tenn., whose powerhouse high school team not only has captured a record five consecutive state titles but has won 69 of its last 75 games, including a 14-1 record last fall.

Rivals.com lists Thompson as 6-foot, 180, while Scout.com has him at 5-10 1/2 and 175. The bigger discrepancy is in his time for the 40. Rivals has him at 4.4 while Scout has him at 4.75.

Knoxnews offers these senior-year stats for Thompson on defense: 87 tackles (including eight for a loss), two sacks, a whopping 16 pass breakups and three interceptions. As a receiver he had 31 catches for 668 yards and nine touchdowns.

Thompson was also an all-state selection in soccer. In this video interview after he was chosen for Tennessee's Toyota East vs. West All-Star Classic, he says he'll likely play safety in college.

Knoxnews.com had a column on Thompson a year ago last fall that began this way:

Sam Thompson puts the "athlete" in mathlete.

For those who know the Alcoa High School junior three-sport athlete, they understand why Alcoa football coach Gary Rankin said he's never had a smarter football player.

"It's tough when the player is smarter than the coach," Rankin joked (I think). "That makes for a tough player-coach relationship."

From the same story ...

I definitely want a school that caters to my academic tastes. But I'm probably going to have to make a choice as to whether I want to play soccer or football. I would like to play one of them. … I've gotten a little bit of interest from Tennessee and Vanderbilt for football. And I've gotten a letter or two from UCLA for soccer.

Yale has started spring practice under new coach Tom Williams. I had to snicker at the lede of this New Haven Register story, which might not have made it past my editor back when I was at the newspaper (if he read that far):

There came a point, midway in Monday’s rain-soaked first spring football practice at Yale, that new head coach Tom Williams inhaled his surroundings.

He looked over at the offense, going through its paces at one part of the field; then turned the other way to check out the defense. His smile was so fleeting, it could have been mistaken for gas.

Across the state in Durham, N.H., the University of New Hampshire is slated to begin spring ball tomorrow with a session running from 7-9:30 a.m. The Wildcats will conclude their 15 practices on May 8. While Ivy League teams are limited to 12 practices, that's a lot more than the one spring session it was allowed back when I first began covering the team.