2021 Countdown to Kickoff: 35 Days (DeKaleb Thomas)
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Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
The 2021 Countdown to Kickoff is well and truly underway. In a little more than a month, the Indiana Hoosiers will travel to Iowa City and take on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Today’s countdown feature is DeKaleb Thomas, a walk-on defensive back from southern Indiana. With no further ado, let’s get to number 35.
Name: DeKaleb Thomas
Hometown: Jeffersonville, IN (Trinity)
Position: Defensive Back
Year: Redshirt Junior
Height/Weight: 6’0”/185 pounds
Beginning your football career as a senior high school is a tall task. Doing so at a storied program like Louisville Trinity is akin to attempting to drive a sports car through the mountains with no driving experience. Despite the challenge, that’s exactly what DeKaleb Thomas did. He had lettered in basketball and track and field but had no experience on the football field prior to his senior season. Nonetheless, he joined the team and played as a defensive back for a squad that went unbeaten and won a state championship.
Thomas impressed enough to earn a spot for Tom Allen as a walk-on during fall camp prior to the 2019 season. He did not see any game action but he did earn scout team player of the week honors the week of the Hoosiers huge win at Nebraska. He stayed with it and grew as a player, earning defensive scout team player of the week honors for another huge road win (Wisconsin) and becoming the special teams scout player of the week for the Maryland game. Thomas’ impressive growth and work ethic stood out and he was named the defensive scout team player of the year for 2020.
The defensive backfield is a very crowded group as IU continues to recruit extremely well to the position. That being said, as the raw DeKaleb Thomas continues to grow as a player, it would not be shocking to see him earn some time on the field as a special teams contributor as early as this season.
The countdown continues with a new profile each and every day so come back to hoosierhuddle.com daily!