This Panthers football player has created a name — and a role — for himself at FIU

When Stantley Thomas was about to turn 18, his mother, Azuree Oliver, asked him what he wanted for his birthday, and the answer was surprising.

It wasn’t a car.

It wasn’t a trip to the Bahamas.

It was a name change. He wanted to honor Frank Oliver, the man who has raised him since he was eight years old.

“My stepfather, he has been in my life and has done a tremendous job raising the three of us, me and my two younger brothers,” said the young man who, now and forever, will be known as Stantley Thomas-Oliver.

“I just felt like he deserves it — he deserves me to have his name.”

Thomas-Oliver, a 6-2, 185-pound junior cornerback who will lead his FIU Panthers this Saturday in a road game at Texas-San Antonio, didn’t just make a birthday wish.

He showed his mother all the paperwork that he had collected. He then went before a judge and made the name change official.

Thomas-Oliver’s decision stunned Frank Oliver Jr.

“I was speechless,” said Frank, who met Azuree and the boys in 2006 and married her in 2008.

Frank said the first time he met the boys, he took them to a fair.

“I was nervous,” Frank said. “Three kids — I didn’t know if I would know how to be a positive role model in their lives.”

The first conversation Frank and Stantley had that night was about cars, and the relationship has grown ever since. Now, they have their own secret handshake, they listen to the same music, and they talk football, of course.

But the name change?

“You don’t know the kind of impact you make on somebody,” Frank said. “You just do the right thing, not for any accolades.

“I genuinely love my wife and my family. When he filed the paperwork, I gave him a hug and thanked him for being in my life.”

Because his father is Frank Oliver Jr., Stantley made his official name Stantley Thomas-Oliver III, even if that last part doesn’t totally follow logic.

The name change was finalized on March 16, 2017. Frank has the framed document resting on his night-table, a daily reminder of his son’s love and gratitude.

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

Thomas-Oliver, who has no contact with his biological father, went to high school in the Fort Myers area and was lightly recruited despite terrific statistics as a wide receiver.

As a senior at Charlotte High, he caught 59 passes for 1,105 yards and an 18.7 average, signing with FIU and its coach at the time, Ron Turner.

In 2016, Thomas-Oliver started all 12 games as a true freshman, catching 35 passes for 485 yards, tying for the team lead with a 13.9 average. He was also named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team.

But when Butch Davis arrived as coach in time for the 2017 season, Thomas-Oliver fell out of favor. Azuree said her son didn’t always practice hard, and Thomas-Oliver played only six games, making just one reception for four yards.

Thomas-Oliver seriously thought about quitting football and college. But Azuree suggested her son go talk to Davis.

“We prayed about it for two months,” said Azuree, a devout Christian.

Finally, Thomas-Oliver knocked on Davis’ door. Two weeks later, in the practice sessions leading up to FIU’s bowl game, Thomas-Oliver was converted to cornerback, a position he had only played once previously, as a high school junior.

“Yes, sir,” Thomas-Oliver told Davis after being switched. “Anything to play. Anything to help the team win.”

KEEPING THE FAITH

Seven months ago, Azuree bought three bandannas for her son, and he wears them, interchangeably, during practices and games.

The bandanna he wore during a recent conversation with a reporter had the word “BLESSED” and also had the names of Biblical passages.

“My mom always tells me to put God first,” he said. “My parents say to believe in Him, and he will get you through.”

Maybe it’s the bandannas, but good things have been happening lately to Thomas-Oliver, a criminology major with a 2.9 grade-point average.

His football fortunes, for example, changed for the better this season with his full-time position switch to cornerback.

FIU defensive coordinator Brent Guy had been asking Davis, since 2017, to switch Thomas-Oliver, and it eventually became a wise move.

“We had seen Stantley run,” Guy said of the defensive coaches. “He’s long. We love long corners — long arms, great feet. If he wasn’t going to play [on offense], we wanted him on defense.

“Coach [Davis] is very good with personnel, watching guys and putting them in the right spots.”

Davis has made many successful switches in his coaching career, most recently moving Maurice Alexander from quarterback to wide receiver.

This year, on Oct. 27, Thomas-Oliver had his breakout defensive game in a win over Western Kentucky. He had his first career interception as well as four pass-breakups, seven tackles and one stop for a loss.

“He was outstanding,” Guy said. “The number of times he went up on deep balls and knocked the ball down … and he also made tackles and made the pick at the end. It was a complete game for him.”

Azuree, who has never missed one of her son’s home games in college, high school or even Pop Warner, couldn’t make the trip to Kentucky.

But she predicted — for the first time — that her son would get an interception, and her premonition came true, even though Thomas-Oliver waited until the game’s final play to make his diving grab.

Thomas-Oliver said his “eyes got big” when he saw the ball in the air.

“I was like, ‘This is the moment’,” he said.

As a former wide receiver known for his hands, Thomas-Oliver knew he couldn’t afford to drop the ball. And when he didn’t, his family exploded with joy back home in Punta Gorda, where they watched the game on TV.

“When the game got late, my husband said, ‘It’s not going to happen,’” Azuree said. “But I said, ‘You’ve got to have faith.’

“When he caught it, we all jumped up and screamed.”

Azuree said she texts her son during games, knowing full well he won’t read them until later.

She will text messages such as “focus” or, “you were two steps behind.”

When he got the interception, she texted him three words:

“Told you so.”

Indeed, her son is making a name for himself — Stantley Thomas-Oliver III.

This story was originally published November 7, 2018 at 11:32 AM.