Thomas Accepts Offer From Virginia

Kempsville (Virginia Beach, VA) standout free safety/wide receiver Mason Thomas knew prior to this weekend that he wanted to go to the University of Virginia. The only thing separating Thomas from being a part of UVa’s 2011 class was an official scholarship offer, which is exactly what he received today from head coach Mike London. The 6-1, 200-pound senior, accompanied by his father on an official visit, quickly accepted.

“I told Coach [Chip] West that, basically, I was waiting for them. When I spoke with Coach London this morning, he said, ‘Mason, I know you are on board.’ He was excited, though, because Coach West had been telling him some good things about me,” said Thomas.

The scholarship offer did not come as a surprise to Thomas, a player the Virginia staff has kept tabs on throughout 2011 recruiting. In fact, he sort of expected it given his most recent conversation with assistant Chip West.

“Coach West is my recruiter and he has been recruiting me for a while,” Thomas said. “For a while, he was saying, ‘Mason. It is gonna happen. It is gonna happen.’ I spoke to him around Christmas break and he was basically telling me it definitely was going to happen. I was excited about that. I was committed to ODU, but I de-committed at that time. I waited a little bit. They wanted me to come up and take an official visit to look around more. It wasn’t really a decision for me because I would love to be in the program.”

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