UNC football recruit Tyler Thompson’s sport switch at Panther Creek proves prescient

Tyler Thompson’s football progression from Panther Creek High School to earning a University of North Carolina scholarship seems a simple path. He’s a 6-foot-5 defensive end with quickness and speed built to rush the quarterback.

There’s a backstory, though, that takes time to tell — sort of like his younger years assembling a Lego project.

“I used to sit a room for hours trying to figure it out,” Thompson said.

His football career was a simple puzzle, but it required guidance from his West Cary Middle School physical education teachers and Panther Creek’s head coach, Sean Crocker. Football, they told him, not basketball, was his college future.

“I was always taller than everybody growing up and loved basketball,” Thompson said, “but when I was in seventh grade, my coaches said, ‘Oh, my God! You’ve never played football?’ So, I tried out for the team. I liked it, but I still loved basketball.”

He didn’t grasp his potential until the flip-flopped football and basketball seasons of the 2020-21 school year. Both Thompson and classmate Amari Odom were ticketed as sophomores for varsity football, but that was the year the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down.

Football was postponed in the fall of 2020. Winter sports began with basketball in January 2021. Later, football gained the green light to be played in the spring. Sharing athletes might create a problem at some schools but not with Crocker and basketball coach Shawan Robinson.

Thompson and Odom began preseason football practice as Panther Creek’s basketball season crossed into the playoffs. On Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, Panther Creek won its first-round hoop game over Grimsley, 77-65. Odom scored 13 points and Thompson 12. In the second round, on Thursday, Feb. 25, North Mecklenburg eliminated Panther Creek, 76-70. Odom scored 10 and Thompson two.

The next night, Friday, Feb. 26, Thompson and Odom helped Panther Creek open the “spring” football season with a 29-0 win over Jordan. Odom was 11-of-18 passing for 143 yards and four touchdowns. If not for the basketball loss, they would have played a third-round basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 27.

“It was hectic but fun,” Thompson said. “I didn’t play as well as I thought I could in the football game, but my coach pulled me aside and said, ‘You should be able to get three sacks a game.’ Once he told me that, it clicked in. I started really working hard at football.”

He attended football camps prior to his junior year and was rated a 3-star prospect by Rivals.com and 247sports.com. Soon enough, Thompson noticed his inbox filled with football recruiting contacts while it lacked basketball messages.

In football, Thompson can add weight to his 205-pound frame. But in basketball, a 6-5 forward is a dime-a-dozen. Basketball was Thompson’s unrequited love, but he didn’t remain heartbroken.

He jumped into his football future the modern way — social media. He sent out a message via TikTok. The video, accompanied by dramatic music, starts with the headline, “Me growing up thinking Ima be a hooper.”

“He’s driving to the basket and shooting outside,” Crocker said. “Then the video switches to his football offers.”

The list spanned the Power Five conferences, but he opted to stay close to home, committing on June 29 to the Tar Heels.

“He works hard,” Crocker said. “Sometimes we have to pull him off the field and tell him to take it easy. He’ll overwork and come out the next day banged up. I was telling the (college) coaches coming through here that he’s a defensive lineman, but he runs with our running backs, receivers and defensive backs in the sprint groups. He tries to win every sprint.”

Odom, similar to Thompson, loved basketball but as a quarterback he recognized his football potential. He was drawing recruiting attention as a junior, but he suffered torn knee ligaments at the end of 2022 basketball season.

Although Odom has missed 2022 football season, he has remained engaged with the team, including helping coach his replacement, junior Will Clancy. He still hopes to draw a football recruiting interest. East Carolina’s offer was conditional, but UNLV’s offer stands. Other schools are taking a wait-and-see approach.

This winter, though, Thompson and Odom will take separate paths. Odom’s rehab is on schedule to play basketball, but Thompson decided to graduate early, so he’ll begin college in Chapel Hill.

“If you enroll early it puts you a step ahead getting into a weight program and with school,” said Thompson, who plans a major in kinesiology with a minor in business. “I’m excited about football.”