When Scott Frost took over as head football coach at UCF in 2015, he made a few things clear about his recruiting philosophy:
A) He was going to make top local prospects a priority.
B) Neither he nor his staff was going to back down from the Power 5 schools when it came to pursuing the top-notch talent the state of Florida has to offer.
One of those top state prospects was on campus this week with Miami Booker T. Washington during UCF’s summer team camp and the Knights coaching staff made sure to let wide receiver Tyquan Thornton know they’d love to have him in the black and gold.
Thornton, whose top offers are from Florida, Miami and Georgia, seemed receptive to the idea of playing at UCF and he said he has built a good relationship with his recruiter Travis Fisher, UCF’s defensive backs coach.
“I feel good about the Knights. It’s a nice campus and nice weather,” said Thornton, who was making his second visit to UCF having competed in a 7-on-7 tournament two summers ago. “Me and Coach Fish have a nice relationship. It’s very important to develop a relationship with the coaches because I don’t want to feel like I’m new to the campus once I get here.”
In Thornton, a 6-foot-3, 170-pounder, the Knights would be looking for a stretch receiver on the outside who can give the offense more potential to get vertical down the field. He’s also versatile enough with good speed and could play in the slot.
He said he doesn’t have any favorites at this juncture of his recruiting process.
“It’s slowly picking up,” Thornton said. “I’m taking it step-by-step right now.”
A perennial all-state power, Booker T. failed to make the state championship game last year in Class 4A, losing earlier than usual in the playoffs. The Tornadoes, which had won four straight state titles before last season’s early exit, vow to return in 2017.
“We’re gonna have a great season. We’ve got a lot of young guys [who will] step up to play and rise to the occasion and us seniors, we gotta lead and show them the right way,” Thornton said.
“This year, we will be back.”
Chris Hays covers college football recruiting, as well as college and high school football for the Sentinel. Reach him at .
Also follow us on Twitter @OS_Recruiting or on Faceboook at OS Recruiting or on Instagram at OS_Recruiting.
