Former Ohio State safety Jayme Thompson has high interest in Maryland

The recruitment for Iowa Western Community College safety Jayme Thompson has its share of twists and turns. Thompson, a one-time West Virginia commit, signed with Ohio State in February 2013 and redshirted his first season before ending up at Iowa Western Community College - the old stomping grounds for former Terrapin Deon Long. Having more time to perfect his craft on the football field, Thompson has many suitors for the Division 1 level, including Maryland.

"Definitely the opportunity to come in and play right away," said Thompson when asked about what stands out about Maryland. "They're losing a lot guys after next season, and I'm going to be a December 2015 grad. I have a lot of family that lives near Washington D.C., so it would be nice to let them see me play."

In a secondary that predominantly consists of upperclassmen such as William Likely, AJ Hendy, Sean Davis and Anthony Nixon, playing time will be available by the time Thompson makes his decision. The prospect also has the versatility to roam around and explore multiple opportunities in the secondary.

"I've been talking to [offensive line] coach [Greg] Studrawa," he said. He told me the head coach is working with the safeties and he asked which position I could play and I said both. He's going to come to some of my practices and evaluate me."

Having family in close proximity to campus is always appealing to recruits, and could be an added incentive to Thompson's recruitment as certain family members are within walking distance to campus.

"My mother's parents live literally five minutes away from campus," he said. "So I'll probably look to visit there this summer."

Iowa Western Community College has been good to the Terps, as Deon Long once donned the Reiver uniform (two-time commit Larry Mazyck, who never made it to College Park, also attended the school). Thompson has been hearing about the program from a more unlikely source, however.

"It's been more Stefon Diggs' brother Darez, who's also at the school," said Thompson. "He's been telling me how great College Park is and how well they treated his brother. He also sees it as a good opportunity to get back into the Big Ten. That's one thing I'm really looking at."

Thompson is interested in two of Maryland's divisional rivals ... just not his previous landing spot.

"As of now I'm looking at Michigan State, Michigan, possibly Iowa," he said. "I'm pretty open to whatever school and can come into and play right away. Auburn, Iowa State, Kansas State, Louisville are non-Big Ten Schools that I'm interested in. There are other SEC and Pac-12 interests also."

Thompson is aiming to have his options narrowed down soon, but nothing is set in stone yet.

"I'm just planning on narrowing it down in the summer, which is when I want to take a lot of my visits," he said. "Maybe it'll be sometime then."

Thompson currently holds offers from Arkansas State, Ohio, Iowa State and Western Kentucky. He recorded 85 tackles with two interceptions last season. Currently unrated by the 247Sports Composite, Thompson was a four-star recruit coming out of Central Catholic (Toledo) High School.