Raines’ Thomas to; Texas it is for Ffrench

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The signing day drama continued on Wednesday, with Raines offensive lineman Solomon Thomas ending the suspense and signing with LSU.

Thomas, the first five-star prospect in Raines’ decorated history, had long since been committed to Florida State. But that was in question after the Seminoles turned in a miserable 2-10 season.

RELATED: See where all the signees are headed

Head coach Mike Norvell fired offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins and defensive coordinator Adam Fuller last month. Atkins was the coach whom Thomas was the closest with.

That opened the door for late pushes from Florida and LSU. He is the first local offensive lineman to sign with LSU since Fletcher’s Steve Arflin in 2001. Baton Rouge hasn’t been a major destination for area players, with Thomas just the fifth local to sign with the program in the last quarter century. Trinity Christian quarterback Colin Hurley signed with LSU last year.

Thomas didn’t start playing football until eighth grade, a bit of a late start in the football circuit. Former Raines offensive lineman Solomon Kindley was a major figure in Thomas getting into the game and developing into a known entity at the position. Kindley was an elite offensive lineman, signed with Georgia and was later drafted by the Dolphins in the fourth round in 2020.

Thomas (6-3, 315 pounds) has missed the bulk of the Vikings’ unbeaten season and run to the state semifinals with injuries. He is a five-star prospect by ESPN and Rivals and a four-star by On3 and 247 Sports.

Mandarin quartet makes decisions

One of the big signing day questions was would Mandarin receiver Jaime Ffrench follow the lead of teammates Drake Stubbs and Tramell Jones and head to Gainesville.

Ffrench, a five-star pass catcher, had been verbally committed to Texas and wound up signing with the Longhorns on Wednesday. Stubbs, who flipped from Miami to Florida earlier this week, couldn’t sway Ffrench, nor could quarterback Jones, who flipped from Florida State to Florida last month. Cornerback Jaylen Lewis also had a signing day surprise, signing with Memphis. He’d been committed to Florida Atlantic before switching on signing day.

Patterson era ends at White

When defensive back Joshua Patterson made things official with Iowa State on Wednesday, it marked the end of an era for the Commanders. Patterson is the youngest of five children. Two of his older brothers, Jaison (signed with Bowling Green) and Davaughn (signed with Wake Forest) carved their own legacies at Ed White.

Now, Joshua became the final Patterson to put a bow on the family pipeline at the school. He said that carrying on his family’s good name there was something he took seriously every step of the way. When Patterson saw his family members give recorded messages at his signing day, he got very emotional, the realization that his time in high school was over.