2025 CB Cree Thomas Talks "Amazing" Notre Dame Visit

Ask Cree Thomas‍ about his trip to Notre Dame this past weekend and the 2025 Arizona cornerback won’t hold back.

“It was amazing,” Thomas says. “It was really cool. The campus was beautiful. All their facilities are super nice and I really enjoyed talking to the coaches.”

The staff members, specifically Marcus Freeman, Mike Mickens and Chad Bowden, made tremendous impressions.

“Mickens was really cool,” Thomas says. “He really emphasized life after football and he really emphasized the importance of getting a degree.

“I thought that was really cool because you could tell that he really cared about me as a whole person and not just as an athlete.

“Coach Freeman was really saying the same gist of things. All the coaches were really preaching academics. Obviously, academics are going to be a big part of where I pick to go to college, so I thought that that was really cool that they're speaking on something so important to me.”

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Thomas has early offers from Notre Dame, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon and Purdue among others.

Thomas, who attends the same Brophy Prep program that produced current Notre Dame cornerback star Ben Morrison, trusts the staff would put him in position to succeed.

“They told me that they've done their vetting, they've watched all their film and they've been in contact for with me for a while,” he says. “I think that they're confident that I can produce for them on the field if I were to go to that school.

Thomas spent the night in South Bend on Saturday and had the opportunity to hang out with some of the defensive backs that night along with 2024 Texas safety Paul Mencke Jr.

“It was cool,” Thomas says. “They were all really cool to me and Paul. They didn't really know us and they just - well, besides Ben - but they didn't really know us for the most part and they took us in and they hung out with us. I thought that was really cool. We actually went bowling and went to Salsa's.”

As great as Morrison’s time with the Irish has been so far, Thomas will base his decision on more than that.

“I'm super proud of Ben,” he says. “I look up to him a lot. He's a guy that I definitely would want to be like, but at the end of the day, this is my journey, so I just need to make sure while talking to God and talking to my family that I pick the school that's best for me.”

Thomas wants to get back to South Bend for more visits and to catch a home game inside Notre Dame Stadium.

“Obviously, I have to fit in around my football schedule as well, but I definitely want to try to get out there and catch game,” he says. “I want to see the atmosphere and the fans and just the energy on game day. I think that would be cool.”

He doesn’t have any other visits locked in at this point, but will be hitting the road as he continues through the process.

“I just want to get around and I want to see how I like different campuses and different coaches and different atmospheres before I make my decision,” he says.

He has plenty of time, but he doesn’t plan to wait forever.

“I think I want to commit around this time next year, if not earlier.”

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