High school football: Oberlin’s Thornton chooses Illinois
Shaun Bennett | The Chronicle-Telegram
The day before the start of the high school football season, the area got its second Big Ten player commitment and this one comes from a player who hasn’t officially played one down here.
Oberlin senior tackle Hugh Thornton has orally committed to play for Illinois — following Vermilion tight end Derek Hoebing’s decision last month to play for Michigan State — and can now focus on his senior season with the Phoenix.
“It’s more than just focusing on my senior year,” Thornton said. “It takes a lot of stress off of me and now I have something to strive for … playing in the Big Ten.”
The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Thornton transferred to Oberlin from Idaho midway through his junior season, and Phoenix coach Dave McFarland began hitting the phones to get the recruitment process started.
“Illinois was the first school to respond,” McFarland said.
Run-game coordinator and offensive line coach Eric Wolford came to Oberlin to meet with Thornton, but really didn’t know a ton about the potential Illini recruit.
“He just wanted to come and talk to me and learn a little more about me,” Thornton said. “After we met, he went into the library and watched my highlight film (on rivals.com) with my coach and the principal. Then he met me after my next class to tell me that I had a scholarship waiting.
“It put a big smile on my face.”
Thornton said he had actually received a couple of letters from the Illini while still in Idaho, but it was the “surprise” meeting with Wolford that really sold the school.
“I feel I can have a relationship with him that’s beyond just a coaching relationship,” Thornton said. “I think he can be kind of like a father figure away from home.
“That’s what I was really looking for in a college.”
Thornton said he ignored the national perception of the Big Ten being a weakened football conference over the last few years. Much of it was because he lived in Oberlin for several years as a young boy and continued to watch teams from the conference as he grew.
“I’ve been following a lot of Big Ten teams like Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State and Illinois for a long time,” Thornton said. “I never thought of them as a weak conference because there’s just great coaching and great players out here in the Midwest.”
Now he’s one of them.
That’ll take some of the distractions away from the program this season, and a lot of the pressure off Thornton.
“It’s a relief for Hugh to be done with it,” McFarland said. “Now he can just focus on being a kid. He can focus on things like playing high school football and his classes and chasing girls … and just having fun.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Shaun Bennett | The Chronicle-Telegram August 21st, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 9% |
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