Millard South Jett Thomalla (4) looks for receivers against Basha during a game at Basha High School in Chandler, Arizona, on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. © Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
Jett Thomalla, Iowa State’s four-star quarterback commit in the 2026 class, picked up an offer from Alabama in May.
It was about a month after the Millard South High School (Omaha) prospect announced he would commit to Iowa State. It’s not an out-of-the ordinary move by any means.
After all, Brock Purdy took a visit to Alabama late in his recruitment process as well.
“That’s what I said right away, talking to Iowa State coaches,” Thomalla said of the path that eventually took Purdy to Ames. “Yeah, hopefully I end up like him, that’d be cool.”
Thomalla picked up other offers from Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, Duke, Virginia Tech, Washington State, San Diego State, UNLV, Colorado State, and Arkansas State during his recruitment process before ultimately deciding on Iowa State.
The Alabama offer came just came later.
“It was just cool, like growing up as a kid, it’s always been one of the bigger programs,” Thomalla said. “You always watch them on TV… It just shows hard work pays off and it’s cool to get.”
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound prospect will take a visit to Tuscaloosa to meet with Kalen DeBoer, who’s in his second year at the helm with Alabama, but no date has been released yet.
“Yes and no,” Thomalla said when asked if there was a difference between the program that now has a newer coach. “He did a great job at Washington, too. He put Michael Penix in the NFL. I kind of just want to go down there and meat him. I’ve talked to him before – he’s a cool guy.”
Iowa State is aware that Thomalla plans to visit, but that won’t change the program’s pursuit of the talented arm.
The staff likely won’t have to change many plans, either. Iowa State typically recruits committed players as hard or even harder than it recruits uncommitted athletes.
“They’re just really easy to get along with. Coach Waters went through the same process with Kansas State and Penn State, so they’ve done it before,” Thomalla said. “So did coach Campbell. They kind of understand and in the end, obviously, they’re still going to recruit me really hard.”
Thomalla is one of six Nebraska prospects to announce their commitment to Iowa State, and his high school tight end Isaac Jensen (a four-star prospect in the same class) remains a top priority for the program.
“I really like them, and it shows that I have a really good relationship with them – just being able to call and be totally up front about it,” Thomalla said. “They understood, but they kind of just say to stay locked in and ‘you’re our guy.'”
