Special Feature/South Georgia/October 2013
Trenton Thompson
Westover High School
Albany, Georgia
by Robert Preston Jr.
Four-star recruit has offers from top programs across the country – and has a year to decideThe last 12 months have been hectic for Trenton Thompson, a four-star defensive tackle for the Westover Patriots in Albany. And the attention is only going to get crazier for the 6’4”, 290-pound junior.
Thompson is ranked fifth in ESPN’s top 300 juniors in the United States, and he already has offers from a number of Division I programs throughout the country. As wild as the last year has been, Thompson has handled the attention like a seasoned veteran. He is a humble, hardworking young man who, despite the interest in what he will do in the future, is focused on one thing – helping his team win its first region championship and then making a deep run through the playoffs.Thompson has lived in Albany his whole life and has played football for the last five or 
six years. His sophomore season was a breakout year of sorts for him: he amassed 65 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, five sacks, one forced fumble, and one interception.
His performance in 2012 put him on everyone’s radar and established him as one of the top players in the country. Thompson was also a big reason the Patriots, who have never been considered one of the stronger teams in South Georgia (Westover has never even won a region title), had their best season in many years. The 2012 Patriots went 8-4 and finished second in the region. A big, strong athlete who moves very well despite the enormous amount of space he occupies on the defensive line, Thompson has good football instincts and knows how to find the ball carrier.
Thompson is fundamentally sound and doesn’t miss very many tackles. He’s also the kind of player who can alter an opposing offense’s game plan on his own. “I wanted to take over last year. My coaches told me I could do whatever I wanted to but I would have to work harder than anybody else,” he says.Coming into his junior year with nearly a dozen scholarship offers on the table, he wanted to record more than 100 tackles and 10 sacks. After three games, Thompson had 15 tackles, four sacks, and five tackles for a loss. He also would like to see his team claim its first region title, something that very nearly happened last year.To play at his full potential, however, he has to remain focused on Friday nights and not get sidetracked by the attention he receives Saturday through Thursday. He has done a good job of keeping things in perspective. “I just try to get into myself and not hang out with the wrong crowd. I spend time with my mom and do what she tells me to do. I also listen to my coaches and stay on a straight line. I’m getting used to all the attention and I can’t let that stop me from where I want to go,” he says.
A good student who would like to major in sports management, Thompson has yet to make a decision where to attend school. He has offers from 11 schools, including Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, South Carolina, Auburn, and Clemson. The first school that sent him a letter was South Carolina, and Georgia was the first program to make a scholarship offer. Thompson isn’t ready to make a decision yet, but he will say that right now, Georgia is at the top of the list. “They came down here first and took time with me. I took my first visit there and they made me the first offer. I love the University of Georgia,” he says. For his first two years of high school, Trenton Thompson also played basketball. He was a very good player who loved the game. As it became more and more apparent that his future would be in football, he decided to lay aside basketball and concentrate on the gridiron. It’s a decision that should pay off well for him. He will eventually end up at one of the best football programs in the country.
