Tennessee football received a prediction to land Duke running back Star Thomas according to On3’s Pete Nakos on Friday afternoon.
Nakos put in the prediction for Tennessee to land Thomas as the running back was coming off a visit to Tennessee which bodes particularly well for the Vols.
Thomas rushed for 871 yards and seven touchdowns on 213 carries during the 2024 season. The junior running back also caught 20 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. His best game of the season came against rival North Carolina when he rushed for 166 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries while also catching two passes for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Thomas earned a 70.1 PFF grade for his play in 2024 at Duke including a 73.8 rushing grade. According to PFF, Thomas had 22 rushes of over 10 yards and had an impressive 612 yards after contact.
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The Homer, Louisiana native started his college career at New Mexico State where he spent his first two seasons before transferring to Duke. In his two seasons with the Aggies, Thomas totaled 1,178 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. Thomas has just one year of eligibility remaining.
Tennessee is in need of running backs this offseason after losing SEC Offensive Player of the Year Dylan Sampson to the NFL and reserve running backs Cam Seldon and Khalifa Keith to the transfer portal.
The Vols do return two of their top three backs in rising sophomore Peyton Lewis and redshirt sophomore DeSean Bishop. Lewis rushed for 339 yards and three touchdowns last season while Bishop rushed for 455 yards and three touchdowns. Tennessee also added a pair of running backs in its 2025 recruiting class— Daune Morris and Justin Baker.
Pairing Thomas with Lewis and Bishop would make for a good running back trio for Tennessee’s backfield for the 2025 season.