Tar Heels Among Finalists for 4-Star Linebacker

The North Carolina Tar Heels are one of five finalists for Houston Cy Ranch High School linebacker Calvin Thomas. Thomas is ranked as the No. 9 linebacker in the country by Rivals.

Thomas will announce his decision on July 12.

Aside from North Carolina, the other finalists are Nebraska, Michigan, SMU and Texas.

According to Rivals, Michigan and Nebraska are longshots to land Thomas. As for Texas, they recently received a commitment from fellow linebacker Kosi Okpala, but are rumored to still be in constant contact with Thomas other than the summer dead period.

The teams making the most noise for Thomas appear to be North Carolina and SMU. Per sources of Rivals, who are connected to the student-athlete, he would rather play out of state. That bodes well for the Tar Heels.

Apparently, multiple sources with knowledge of Thomas' recruitment said the push from legendary head coach Bill Belichick is driving this recruitment. Further, North Carolina has been in hot pursuit of Thomas through the spring and early part of the summer, prior to the dead period.

Thomas is apparently smitten with Chapel Hill, which does not hurt. He took his official visit to the school on May 30. His last visit was with the Longhorns.

“I definitely loved the scenery there and the academics,” he told Rivals in May. “Michael Jordan went there. It’s a great school.”

The source with knowledge of the situation said North Carolina is "right in the thick of' the race for Thomas. If a decision was forced to be made today, they believe it would be the powder blue of North Carolina.

No one is ruling out Nebraska as the Huskers are also sitting in a good spot, with SMU and Texas trailing, but it has been said his parents favor the Horns.

"I was just minding my business and it was a great day. And then coach  called up, I was with my dad and my mom, and he called up and we had a great talk and then he offered me," Thomas told Horns247 earlier this year. "I was like 'wow', cause it's Texas. It's a great school, big school, SEC school, and it's top of the top, and my parents were loving it. 

Per MaxPreps, in his junior season he had 69 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery.

Thomas also participates in track and field. During his sophomore season he has season-best times of 14.88 in the 110-meter hurdles and 38.32 in the 300-meter hurdles, per MileSplit.

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