Former Miami wide receiver Jeff Thomas announced Friday that he'd be transferring to Illinois. Thomas finished the 2018 season as Miami's leading receiver, catching 35 passes for 563 yards and three touchdowns. The speedster also helped out on special teams, picking up an additional 481 yards on kick and punt returns. While Illinois had one of the best rushing offenses in college football in 2018, its passing attack lagged far behind, finishing 115th in the nation in passing yards per game. Well, the Illini passing attack has now received a boost.
Per transfer rules, Thomas is required to sit out a season before gaining eligibility with Illinois, though it's possible he could receive a waiver from the NCAA. Whatever happens, he has three years left to play two seasons.
Thomas was a four-star prospect in the 2017 recruiting class. He was rated the No. 40 player in the country, and the No. 5 WR in the class according to 247Sports' Composite rankings. He chose Miami and had an impressive offer list with schools like Alabama, Auburn and Florida State being just a few of the other schools interested in him. Illinois offered him a scholarship at the time as well, but lost out on him at the time he was exiting high school.