IRVING, Texas (Dec. 6, 2016) – FIU wide receiver
Stantley Thomas has been named to this year's Conference USA All-Freshman Team the league announced on Tuesday. As selected by the conference's 13 head football coaches, Thomas becomes the sixth Panther to garner the C-USA honor.
Thomas appeared and started in all 12 games for the Panthers, grabbing 35 passes for 485 yards and one touchdown. The native of Punta Gorda, Florida, averaged 40.4 yards-per-game and 13.9 yards-per-catch in his first year with FIU. He recorded two-or-more catches in eight games in 2016, including a career-best eight receptions versus UMass (Sept. 17). The 6-foot-2 wideout registered a career-high 91 yards on three catches during his collegiate debut versus Indiana. He also notched 83 yards receiving on three catches versus Marshall (Nov. 19) and 74 yards on five catches versus LA Tech (Oct. 22). On the year, Thomas recorded seven catches of 20-or-more yards, including a 48-yard reception versus the Thundering Herd. He grabbed his first-collegiate touchdown for 17 yards versus UCF (Sept. 24). Thomas finished the year ranked No. 3 on the team in catches (35) and receiving yards (495), while he was tied for the team lead in yards-per-catch (13.9).
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU:
Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
