Five-star prospect Meleek Thomas was one of the stars of the McDonald's All-America game last month alongside Duke Blue Devils commit Cameron Boozer. The highly recruited Thomas committed to the Arkansas Razorbacks last year.
Due to his highlight reels of playing for Overtime Elite, Thomas has built up a huge following of 124,000 on Instagram. On Friday evening, he reposted a clip on his Instagram story of himself playing basketball with his friends inside a clothing store and scoring a fadeaway jumper on the mini-hoops court.
He captioned it:
"Turnover get it back, fade Tr3ball."
Thomas, who is a Pittsburgh native, turned down offers from the Pittsburgh Panthers and UConn Huskies before choosing to commit to John Calipari's Razorbacks last year. He also plays for the City Reapers in the Overtime Elite league in Atlanta.
Meleek Thomas explains why he chose Arkansas
Meleek Thomas is the No. 1 shooting guard and the No. 7-ranked player in the country in the class of 2025, according to 247Sports, after starring for Lincoln Park averaging 22.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game last season.
Despite being highly recruited, he committed to Arkansas. During an interview with "Pittsburgh Sports Now," he revealed why he chose the Razorbacks, highlighting the recruitment process.
“Just the love they showed,” Thomas said. “Continuing through the whole process, they showed love to my family, not only to me, but also to my family. Play style. They’re just big on me, so I’m big on them.”
Thomas also had a pre-existing relationship with recruitment guru John Calipari while he was still at Lincoln Park. Calipari started recruiting Thomas when he was still the coach of the Kentucky Wildcats, cementing their relationship and snagging the five-star's commitment.
“I’ve had that relationship with Coach Cal for years now,” Thomas said. “It’s always just progressed, it never went down. He just showed love and makes me feel like I should be at Arkansas.
“It’s going to be a special backcourt. I don’t think no backcourt in the country is going to really be able to go head-to-head with us. Every night, you got to tie your laces up. Me and Cheeks, Vs. any two guards, I like us," he added.
Meleek Thomas will join fellow five-star prospect Darius Acuff who committed to the Razorbacks earlier this year to give them the No. 2 recruitment class in the country.
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