Aphonso Thomas
	Height	5-11
	Weight	185
	40-yard Dash	4.5
	Bench Press	325
	Squat	485
	Vertical Leap	35 inches

ETSN Super Team
First-team All-District 8-4A
ESPN" ***
247sports: ***
Scout: ***
Rivals: **
ESPN: No. 42 running back in nation
Scout: No. 20 running back in Texas
ESPN: No. 79 player in Texas
247sports: No. 122 player in Texas
Scout: No. 22 running back in Midland Region
ESPN: No. 91 player in region
247sports: No. 56 running back in nation
Scout: No. 124 running back in nation

Last Year Statistics

222 carries (in 11 games)
1,570 rushing yards
143 rushing yards per game
7.1 yards per carry
21 rushing touchdowns
2,605 career rushing yards
34 career touchdowns

Strengths as a Player

Aphonso Thomas is a powerful, compact runner with good speed and balance, but his most visible trait might be the explosiveness that allows him to make one cut and accelerate, or to put his shoulder down and run through would-be tacklers, sometimes drawing comparisons to former Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott. He also is an able receiver out of the backfield who has a history of toughness: he rebounded from a partially torn medial collateral ligament (MCL) during his sophomore season without undergoing surgery.

Interviews

Van head coach Jared Moffat on Aphonso Thomas:

We run a lot of inside zone and outside zone plays. “Phonso” was a little under the radar, as far as recruiting, because he started out, freshman year, at safety, and then he split carries as a junior. But he’s a very good runner, on offense and on special teams — he’s a dangerous return guy. If we had kept him on defense, he would have come down closer to the ball — he probably would have ended up at linebacker, or we even thought about using him as a rush end — but he’s such a good athlete, he would have gotten a scholarship on defense, too.

Don’t laugh at this, and I’m not comparing the two, but I always wondered if he’s related to Earl Campbell (Van is a little under 30 miles from Campbell’s hometown of Tyler, Texas). I only say that because of the way he walks — a little bow-legged. He walks kind of slow, but then you get him on the field and put the ball in his hand, and something changes: he’s a one-cut guy who can put his foot in the ground and get upfield fast.

Phonso is fast enough to outrun most people, but he’s more of a physical guy — he can run through you, too. He loves the weight room. In his sophomore year, he was power cleaning 310 pounds, and he got so tight, physically, that it took until district to loosen up in track.

One thing about Van: we’re about 30 minutes from Edgewood, Coach Morris’ hometown. Him and Phonso’s uncle played against each other. When Coach Stepp stopped in, he put his eyes on him and just said, “woah.”

Nebraska had offered him pretty quick. They flew their running backs coach down here, and when he came to meet Phonso, they offered him that day. Close to the end of spring, I told him he should commit. With a guy like that, I just think you don’t want to go into a season with offers, in case you get injured.

SMU is a great fit for him — it’s closer to home. I was real excited when they offered him, maybe 2-3 weeks into our season. I remember Coach Stepp asking me on the phone, “Coach, would we be wasting our time?” I told him that I think Phonso wanted to stay closer to home. They really did their homework on him, and they’re getting a heck of a player.

I met Coach Morris at a coaches’ (convention), and a guy I used to coach with said they coach like we coach. I lot of times (players) get out there and coaches are f-bombing them, but from what I saw of them, and I went to a couple of practices in the spring, I could take my 10-year-old out there and not feel like I had to put earmuffs on him. That’s not to say they’re not teaching — they are. But they do it the right way. I just got the feeling right away that they’re going to take good care of him, they’re going to treat him right.

One of the things that’s most impressive about Phonso is that he’s such a team player, a team kid. He’s a Div. I talent. There’s no doubt about that — he always has been. The running back he was sharing carries with was not a Div. I talent. What he was was a great high school running back, and when Phonso got hurt, that guy ran for more than 2,000 yards. But before he got hurt, he was good enough that they split carries, and most kids with Phonso’s ability would have had a real hard time handling that. (Sharing carries) never affected Phonso’s attitude, his work ethic or his performance. He’s one of those guys who waited his turn, and not everyone could do that. Not everyone sees the big picture and has the maturity to handle that.

I was at Denton Ryan for nine years, and had a lot of experience with Div. I talent and great players, and we always felt that if there was any way for a player to graduate early, you need to do that — as far as football is concerned, spring of your senior year is worthless. For those guys, if there’s any way to graduate and get to (college), you do it. Phonso has never been away from home, so it’s going to be an entirely different environment, so for a kid like him to be able to get down there in the spring, so he knows where the dorms are, where the cafeteria is, where all the classrooms are — and not have to figure all that out when he gets there in the fall — that’s going to help him a lot.

Aphonso Thomas on why he chose SMU:

When I went on my visit to SMU, it felt like home. I really like the coaches, and I really like the program. I want to be a part of turning it around, of making SMU a winner again.

Coach Stepp found me when he came through Van. I knew Eric Dickerson went there, and I had heard about Coach Morris, of course. Coach Stepp was great — I really liked him. He was just real about it, about what SMU is all about. He showed me that they could use me, and he showed me that they can make me a better player.

SMU was closer to home, and I really wasn’t thinking about that when I committed to Nebraska, but it’s important. The Nebraska (assistant) coach wasn’t happy when I told him I was changing my mind. He wanted me to think about it — he didn’t want me to decommit. He asked me to keep thinking about it for a while, but my mind was pretty well made up.

I visited SMU in December. (Host) Courtland (Sutton) was pretty laid-back, telling me what it was like, how it was a grind. It’s a grind everywhere — that’s college football — but we talked a lot about how it’s important to come in and hit it, work hard.

I enrolled early so I can come in and get a headstart. I really wanted to get into the workout program, because I don’t want to redshirt. I don’t know if I will or not — I’ve got to put in the work — but I wanted that chance. That’s one of the main reasons I came here. (The returning SMU running backs) are good — I haven’t earned anything yet. But I’m going to try. That (playing) is my goal.