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Highly-productive Northern Illinois transfer defensive end Raishein Thomas breaks down Mississippi State decision

Paul Jones Mississippi State Bulldogsby:Paul Jones•12/27/24•

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Syndication: The Montgomery Advertiser
Arkansas State Red Wolves quarterback Jaylen Raynor (1) is pursued by Northern Illinois Huskies defensive end Raishein Thomas (4) in second half action in the Camellia Bowl at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday December 23, 2023.

Entering the offseason, one of the top goals for State head coach Jeff Lebby was rebuilding the defensive line. On Friday the Bulldogs took a big step towards doing just that with the addition of former Northern Illinois transfer defensive end Raishein Thomas.

The graduate transfer and Wisconsin native announced his decision to transfer to Mississippi State and becomes the 14th transfer addition for the Bulldogs. Thomas is also the fifth transfer defensive lineman for State this offseason, joining defensive end Red Hibbler (N.C. State), defensive end/edge Malick Sylla (Texas A&M), Darron Reed (Auburn) and defensive tackle Jaray Bledsoe (Texas).

“Mississippi State was big-time for me with my interest,” the 6-foot-4 and 262-pound Thomas remarked. “They showed me a lot of interest from the start and I was very interested in them, obviously. I just had to look at everything and make sure everything was squared away before I made my decision.”

This past season, Thomas played in just four games for Northern Illinois before option to redshirt. In those four games he combined for 12 tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss. For his career with the Huskies, Thomas piled up 198 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss and six sacks.

Thomas took in several official visits this month and that included Mississippi State, North Carolina, East Carolina, Toledo and UTEP.

“At the end there were quite a bit of schools I was looking at the most,” said Thomas. “Besides Mississippi State, it was also Nebraska, North Carolina and Houston and a few others. But I narrowed all of them down to where my best opportunity was and that was Mississippi State.”

While in Starkville, he was impressed with State’s staff and personnel on and off the field.

“It’s good people there,” Thomas recalled. “Honestly, there were a lot of different things that stood out. They have a lot of good resources there and good facilities to help your training and recovery time and all of that. It’s all pretty impressive.”

Another factor that played a role with Thomas’ decision was Mississippi State defensive line coach David Turner. Thomas was encouraged to learn more of Turner’s coaching resume on the defensive line and some of the guys he’s tutored in the past.

“That was dope, for sure,” noted Thomas of his time with Turner. “He’s a guy that knows a lot and he’s produced a lot of talent. He develops them and brings it out of his players. That was all good to know and I enjoyed being around him.”

Thomas is set to arrive at Mississippi State in January and begin preparations for his final season of college football. While he is leaving most of his Northern Illinois teammates, that isn’t true for one of his teammates. Earlier this month former Northern Illinois transfer edge linebacker Nevaeh Sanders also signed with Mississippi State.

“Nevaeh is my dog,” Thomas mentioned. “When I was at NIU that was my locker neighbor. So we chopped it up after every practice and in school, we were studying the same thing. I’m older than him so I’ve already graduated. But we had a lot of the same classes and we were always talking about those things. That’s my dog, though.”

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