Houston Thomas gets first offer from Grimes, Eargle

Lee Grimes is going back to Texas to get recruiting started with Kansas. The new offensive line coach has already been linked to recruits in the state building relationships selling the Jayhawks program.

One of his first offers goes back to an area he is very familiar with, and he teamed up with recruiting coordinator Josh Eargle to deliver the news.

They recently extended an offer to Houston Thomas a tight end from College Station.

“They were both on the phone, and I guess they were in the same office when they were talking to me,” Thomas said. “I knew Coach Grimes when he used to be at A&M and so he's real familiar with our area.

“He's known me since my freshman year. So, he kind of knew about me. And when he got to Kansas, he told coach Eargle, and that's how they knew about me.”

Grimes played at Texas A&M and was named to their All-Decade team. He knows a lot of people from the area and that could be a key recruiting region for the staff. Houston isn’t the only recruit offered from College Station High.

“I know he's an awesome guy,” Thomas said of Grimes. “He’s real nice and encouraging. He's a great coach as well. He is also recruiting one of my teammates and lineman Cory Hendrix. And he just got offered by Kansas, and Corey loves him. He says that's like his favorite coach that he's talked to and he just had a really good energy about him.”

Thomas has been receiving a lot of early interest, but Kansas was the first school to give him the offer.

“I mean, honestly it was really special to me because that was my first offer,” Thomas said. “And when he first said those words, I was truly just speechless, and it was just crazy.

“So that's my first offer and my teammate already has an offer there. That's just something that no other school can offer you. Because the first one is very special because you feel like you made it.”

At 6-foot-5, 210 pounds Thomas can line up at several positions in high school, but his future is likely at tight end. The Kansas coaches told him they expect to develop into a tight end down the road.

“I would say that they like me as a tight end,” he said. “They liked that because as a receiver, they know that I'll be able to run routes, like a receiver, against outside linebackers and safeties. I can be a mismatch that way, because it's easier to get up and get the linebacker and then in the corner, of course.

“And then being able to use my size, going across the middle or going up for a high ball. They like my catch radius, because I have pretty long arms. So, if the ball is anywhere in my catch radius, I can catch it really well. I've said that's my best strength and tool that I use to my advantage.”

Thomas has received interest from Texas A&M, Baylor, Houston, Rice, Yale and Harvard.