PIC: Meleek Thomas shows his locker room as he pays a visit to John Calipari's Arkansas before debut

Meleek Thomas is the No. 11-ranked player (per on3) in the 2025 recruiting class and a highly anticipated prospect. He signed with coach John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks over offers from other top programs like UConn. The Pittsburgh native played high school basketball for Overtime Elite in Atlanta, Georgia.

While the 2025-26 season is still several months away, Thomas had the opportunity to visit the Razorbacks' locker room on Saturday. In a picture he posted to his Instagram story, Thomas got the chance to take a look at his personalized locker room stall.

Image via Meleek Thomas' Instagram story.

Meleek Thomas is joining an Arkansas Razorbacks team that has undergone significant changes in recent years. The most notable change came before last season when former Kentucky coach John Calipari was hired to take over as the head coach of the program.

In his first season with the Razorbacks, Calipari led his squad to an appearance in the Sweet 16 in March Madness. It was an impressive run but one the Razorbacks want to improve on.

Despite their long and impressive history, the Razorbacks have struggled to live up the expectations set by the program during the late 80s and early 90s. Calipari and young additions like Thomas will be looking to change their fortunes.

Meleek Thomas is part of a strong 2025 recruiting class for the Arkansas Razorbacks

Meleek Thomas is expected to be a significant addition for the Razorbacks next season but he will not be the only young star with high expectations. Despite being a five-star prospect, he is not even the highest-ranked recruit in his class signed to Arkansas.

The Razorbacks' 2025 class is led by point guard Darius Acuff Jr. After a stellar season at IMG Academy, Acuff emerged as the No. 5-ranked player in his class, according to 247Sports. He will be expected to be an offensive force for John Calipari next season.

While those two are the only five-star recruits headed to Arkansas next season, it is not the end of the recruiting class. The team also signed four-star recruit Isaiah Sealy. All three players could have an impact on the Razorbacks next season.

John Calipari is one of the most respected coaches in college basketball. Fans will eagerly watch what he can do with the Razorbacks now that he is more established in the organization. He will have the players do great things with Meleek Thomas and Darius Acuff Jr. starting their college careers.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly