DETROIT — Ambry Thomas didn't get the chance to play high school football with his cousin, but he is doing everything in his power to make it happen at the next level.
"We've been playing with each other all our life," Thomas said of fellow four-star defensive back Jaylen Kelly-Powell Friday at Sound Mind Sound Body in Detroit. "In Little League, we played Detroit Dolphins together. We were supposed to play at the same high school together, which was (Martin Luther) King, but he went to Cass (Technical). Every time I play him I act like I don't know him."
Thomas was smiling when he said that last sentence, but the four-star cornerback is no joke in the recruiting world. He and Kelly-Powell, a safety, are both top-20 prospects nationally at their respective positions. There is a reason Thomas wanted to play with his cousin in high school, but the Detroit natives ended up at different institutions.
Since it didn't happen, the next best thing would be doing it at the college level.
"We were supposed to play high school together, but he's at my rivalry school. I'm at his rivalry school," Kelly-Powell said Friday. "We want to play college together, but it's not for sure."
It's a dream both highly ranked recruits believe can happen. Each has plenty of schools to pick from, one of them being Ohio State. It is never easy for the Buckeyes to pull kids from Detroit, however.
"It's like 50-50 right now. He's feeling UCLA, we're feeling Oregon," Thomas said. "We're feeling a lot of schools — Pittsburgh, Penn State, Ohio State."
Thomas holds 35 scholarship offers, while Kelly-Powell owns 40. As is normally the case in Michigan, Kerry Coombs heads the charge from the Ohio State contingent in their recruiting process.
"Coach Coombs, that's my guy," Thomas said. "He's a real hyper guy, I'm a real hyper guy. I like a coach that is really interactive in the drills. I like learning like that, the hard way. I'm an eyes on, I need to see somebody else do it and he actually gets out there and does it."
"He's recruiting us both," Kelly-Powell said of Coombs and his cousin. "We talk about football, but not that much. He really just wants to get to know me. We know each other really well. So he doesn't really try to convince me or pressure me."
Urban Meyer is the same way, Kelly-Powell said, and Ohio State's head coach shows a different side than the one you normally see on television when he is recruiting.
"He's a great guy. Usually, I see him being all serious, but I talked to him he's great," Kelly-Powell said. "We have fun, crack jokes, that sort of things."
Still, Michigan holds the edge in each player's 247Sports crystal ball. It is rare for players from Detroit or anywhere else in the state leave for Columbus or wherever, even if they are cousins.
Both Kelly-Powell and Thomas said they are in no rush to make a decision and each plan to get to Ohio State this summer. Thomas will head to Columbus next month, and chances are good his cousin will join him.
Just another step in the process of two talented family members heading to the same college football program.
"We always take visits together. Always," Kelly-Powell said.
