Al Thompson scores a touchdown in Brentwood Academy's victory over MBA.

Updated 3:15 p.m. Tuesday
By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
Big 12 schools aren't the only ones making an exodus to the Pac-12. Brentwood Academy wide receiver Al Thompson became the third Eagles senior athlete to decide on playing collegiate athletics for schools in the conference.

Thompson verbally committed Monday to play Division I football for Arizona State after making an official visit to Tempe over the weekend. Teammate Graham Shuler, a lineman, earlier committed to Stanford, and BA golfer Dylan Healey is headed to the University of Arizona next year.

"I'm real close with Graham. I talk to him all the time -- he's one of my best friends," Thompson said. "I'm real close to his family. His mom is like a second mom to me. So it's kind of cool knowing I'll be playing against him every now and then. Plus, that's another thing, our campuses aren't too way far apart to each other.

"It'll be kind of good to have a buddy in the area, as well as Dylan Healey. He's playing golf at Arizona, so we'll have a rivalry between one another."

One reason Thompson decided on the Sun Devils was because of family connections in the area.

"I have family in California, and from campus they live about maybe 2 hours at the most, an hour and half. So that's all of my dad's family basically, who live in California," Thompson said. "And my dad has a college friend, who is really like my uncle, who lives in Arizona ... real close to the campus in Tempe.

"So I felt like I wouldn't be too far from home. Plus, it's a 3-hour flight straight there so it's not too bad."

Thompson, who maintains a 3.3 GPA at Brentwood Academy, said ASU's academics appealed to him as well. He plans to study business or possibly sports management.

He also enjoyed talking to and meeting Sun Devils head coach Dennis Erickson, a previous NFL head coach, for the first time.

"While I was out there, the one thing that made me want to commit was how strong they were academically," Thompson said. "They have a program called the Scholar Ballers, so you get on that if you're doing well in the classroom as well as on the field.

"And lastly, just talking to Coach Erickson how straight up and honest he was about everything, how the team is building."

Al Thompson IV

Thompson got to see Arizona State defeat USC on Saturday after visiting the campus on Friday. He also liked receivers coach, former NFL running Steve Broussard, who had recruited him.

"I actually got to meet Coach Erickson while I was out there on Friday and Saturday. Then it got me to go ahead and commit -- I was actually probably going to commit when I was out there, but my dad said 'Let's go ahead and come home and think about it a little bit.' " Thompson said.

Thompson said it was even more intriguing that Erickson had coached one of his favorite receivers, Chad Johnson (Ochocinco), while the head coach at Oregon State.

He picked Arizona State over Cincinnati, Duke, MTSU, Vanderbilt and UAB, but said he would still entertain offers of official visits from other school before signing day.

"As of now, it's pretty solid, but I'll still be open to take other visits and respect all the other colleges that are interested in me," Thompson said. "But I just feel at this time how everything's going that Arizona State was the best for me. But, at the same time, I still will be open to other visits."

Thompson is actually Al Thompson IV, and his father Al Thompson III played football at Tennessee State as a tight end. His dad moved to Tennessee from California when he was about 12. His mom, who attended MTSU, also ran track throughout high school.

"He says I get my speed from my mom, but I get my hands from him," the BA senior said.

Thompson said it's exciting to be headed to the Pac-12, known for many years as the Pac-10 before recent major college conference re-shuffling and expansion.

"Just growing up in the South you hear a lot about the SEC," Thompson said. "It's kind of cool to go out there and see the West Coast offense -- they pass a lot, and they don't huddle at all. We kind of do a fast-paced offense here too so I guess that will help me be prepared for the next level."

Another BA player, lineman Woody Baron, has verbally committed to Virginia Tech, another DI school. BA (4-1) had an off week last Friday before playing host to undefeated Division II-AA region opponent Baylor this week.