THE RECRUITING GUY

Hogs recruit keeps it positive on social networks

Defensive end Solomon Thomas, a consensus four-star recruit, is one of Arkansas' top prospects for the class of 2014.
Defensive end Solomon Thomas, a consensus four-star recruit, is one of Arkansas' top prospects for the class of 2014.

Social media sites Twitter and Facebook can be good tools for prospects during recruiting and help them communicate through private message with college coaches.

The sites also can be troublesome when they post inappropriate content.

Several schools, including Arkansas, have backed off prospects because of a pattern of questionable behavior, but highly recruited defensive end Solomon Thomas of Coppell, Texas, is one athlete coaches don’t have to be concerned about when it comes to his comments on social media sites.

Thomas, 6-3, 256 pounds, 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is rated the No. 24 prospect in the nation by CBS Sports Network national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming and is a major target of the Hogs. His tweets are also free of profanity and often include words of encouragement to teammates as well as Bible verses.

“I’ve always wanted to be respectful to everyone,” said Thomas, who has scholarship offers from more than 40 schools. “Just make sure I’m coming across as someone that’s doing right and standingfor the right things. That’s always been my motto: Stand for the right things and do right.”

Arkansas puts a premium on an athlete’s character and monitor what recruits post on Facebook and Twitter. Thomas has retweeted reminders how schools watch prospects’ behavior and how it can hurt their recruitment.

“I don’t want to go on Twitter and tweet the wrong things and have people think the wrong things about me because of all they know about me is social media,” Thomas said. “So I’m going to make sure I’m going to tweet the right things and show good character.”

Thomas said he will alert a teammate when he sees inappropriate tweets.

“I just let them know they just can’t be doing that if they’re going to be a part of the team,” Thomas said. “If they’re going to try and be a college athlete, that’s not going to help and they need to delete that.”

Thomas said he is also an admirer of former Florida and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow and recalled millions of fans looking up a Bible verse that Tebow used on his eye-black stickers. Thomas, who has more than 2,200 followers on Twitter, said he posts Bible verses on Twitter to express his faith.

“I just want to give people an opportunity to read what I put up about faith, and maybe they’ll catch on and start reading it read and look into it,” Thomas said.

POSITIVE HUNTER

Arkansas freshman tight end Hunter Henry said he always has been careful about what he posts on Twitter.

“I have a lot of followers that I don’t even know,” said Henry, who has more than 4,700 followers. “I have to be careful with what I tweet because people could build a perception of you without you even knowing it.”

Henry reported to Arkansas on Monday to begin summer classes and start workouts. He also has seen how some recruits have hurt their chances to play football on the college level with their social media comments.

“Sometimes I feel like it hurts a lot of recruits and it kind of shows some character flaws about them,” Henry said. “I also like to use [Twitter] as a influential thing to show who I am and my personality. I’m a strong Christian, and I’m going to also use it for that.”

E-mail Richard Davenport at [email protected]

Sports, Pages 15 on 05/28/2013

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