St. Louis native Justin Thurman
returned to his midwest roots on Sunday and walked away with both the fastest man award and the Camp MVP award from the opening session of TheFINALS All-America Showcase at Raymore-Peculiar High School.
The Tampa Jesuit 2025 standout was selected to attend TheFINALS in late December when he competed at the Kickoff23 Showcase at Lou Fusz in St. Louis. Sunday’s event at Ray=Pec was the fiourth time Thurman has attended a Six Star event placing him alongside numerous future and current D1 standouts like Aneyas Williams
(Notre Dame), Jeremiah McClellan
(Six Star), Parker Leise
(Florida) and many others who attended multiple Six Star events before moving on to big things.
“I would say all of the camps that I have been to at Six Star have been great,” Thurman said on Sunday. “ It is a great opportunity to showcase what I can do and then having great coaches that can coach me up and give me feedback on what I can work on.
“It is just another opportunity for me to improve.”
On Saturday, Thurman received offers from Notre Dame — adding to an offer sheet that includes Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, Iowa, Kansas State, Kansas, North Carolina State, Vanderbilt, Indiana, Louisville, Rutgers, Central Florida,UNC-Charlotte, UAB, Toledo, Middle Tennessee State. Coastal Carolina, Florida A&M, and interest from several others.
“ I would say all of the camps that I have been to at Six Star have been great. It is a great opportunity to showcase what I can do and then having great coaches that can coach me up and give me feedback on what I can work on. …”
— Justin Thurman, Tampa Jesuit
Thurman was less than happy with his laser timed 40 in December but showed off the world class speed that has Power 5 programs blowing up his offer sheet on Sunday when he narrowly edged highly touted 2026 prospect Zephen Walker to win the Fastest Man competition.
Thurman attended DeSmet in St. Louis as a freshman and sophomore before moving to Florida prior to his junior season. Playing on a team loaded his talent, he has waited for his turn while playing behind Temple recruit and BCP Offensive Player Of The Year Joquez Smith but is poised for a breakout junior season.
“I definitely want to improve from what I did last year — last year I had a couple opportunities and I used those to the best of my abilities,” he says. :But this year, with the all the opportunities that I am getting I want to maximize them and get all the way to state.”
Thurman says his parents have had the biggest influence on his football career to date.
“They have been great supporters and motivators — telling me to always keep working no matter what and never be satisfied and that the grind doesn’t stop,” he says.
