TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Everyone was looking for a piece of Matthew Thomas. A five-star linebacker, family, friends and coaches each pulled him in different directions.
Mariska Nyon wanted her son at Florida State. She didn’t care for the glam of USC, where Thomas tried to go after signing day, or the proximity to Miami from their Overtown neighborhood. Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher made Nyon, a Suriname emigrant, a part of Thomas’ recruitment when she felt others tried to circumvent.
“My mom made it clear she wanted him to be at Florida State,” said Keelahn Nyon, Thomas’ oldest brother.