Michigan makes Top 5 for 2021 4-star WR in SEC country

The dual-sport athlete from SEC country puts the Wolverines in his top group, along with notable powerhouses across the country.

[jwplayer RqcKhfJK-XNcErKyb]

Jim Harbaugh has long loved his dual-sport athletes.

The Michigan head coach has always preached the importance of not specializing in one sport, and has often included baseball and soccer elements to the team’s summer camp circuits, and has thusly prioritized many student-athletes who can play other sports at a high level.

Some of the current and eventual Wolverines were baseball stars, basketball standouts or track speedsters. Wide receiver Ronnie Bell was a basketball commitment to Missouri State before flipping to the maize and blue for football. Now-departed linebacker Jordan Anthony was baseball standout, while current linebacker Joey Velazquez plays both football and baseball for Michigan. 2021 commits like wide receiver Xavier Worthy is an absolute blazer on the track, running a reported 10.55 100-meter dash.

[lawrence-related id=26448,26437,26433]

Another Michigan target at wide receiver in 2021 is Jayden Thomas, who hails from Atlanta (GA) Pace Academy. Thomas is seeking out the possibility of being a two-sport athlete at the next level, likewise being a football-slash-baseball star down in SEC country.

Michigan recognizes and emphasizes this, as exemplified by a graphic put together by director of football creative Aaron Bills, which Thomas shared on Twitter on July 13.

Apparently, the message is resonating, as Thomas released a Top 5 on Friday, which included the maize and blue along with in-state Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State and Arkansas.

Rated in football as the No. 131 prospect in the country, regardless of position, by Rivals.com, Thomas is also the 23rd-best wideout and No. 11 player in the state of Georgia according to the recruiting site.

Given that Michigan baseball has recently fielded the best team in the north, the Wolverines have a selling point that some of the other programs in his Top 5 don’t currently have — the ability to compete at a high level in two sports.

There are currently no 247Sports Crystal Balls or Rivals.com FutureCasts made predicting Thomas’ future destination.

Watch his junior football highlights below:

[protected-iframe id=”44aab0b1e95eaa2f75fd550eeb750237-146813584-139854940″ info=”//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/9592086/5e1226473448921248d0e030″ width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””]