Video: John Calipari’s Arkansas commit Meleek Thomas impresses with skillful moves in practice

Meleek Thomas is making the most of his time on the court this summer to prepare for his freshman season with John Calipari's Razorbacks. The Arkansas commit shared a highlight reel from a recent practice on his Instagram story Wednesday.

The reel includes a variety of clips of Thomas driving to the basket and working around traffic to make shots. The impressive clips were originally posted by @fromthesidelines_ on TikTok, and Thomas reposted the video for his Instagram followers to see.

"Meleek Thomas OMG🤯," the TikTok caption read.

Meleek Thomas shares his highlight reel on his Instagram story

Thomas joins the Razorbacks as the No. 11 player in his class according to ESPN. The Pittsburgh native is a five-star recruit who led Lincoln Park Performing Art Charter School to back-to-back 4A PIAA Championships. He's a 2025 McDonald's All-American and plays for the City Reapers of Overtime Elite.

John Calipari's Razorbacks are gaining a versatile guard in Thomas. He has good size and physicality and thrives at setting up shots. This season with the City Repears, the guard contributed 26.8 points, 4.3 assists and 8.9 rebounds per game. He highlighted his defensive depth with 2.1 steals per game.

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Thomas is honing his skill set further this summer as he looks to be a difference maker for Arkansas next season.

NCAA analyst opens up about John Calipari's Arkansas squad's chances of winning the SEC title

Jeff Goodman reflected on what it will take for John Calipari and his Arkansas team to win the SEC title next season. In an episode of "The Field of 68: After Dark," NCAA analysts Goodman and Rob Dauster discussed the topic.

Goodman expressed excitement about the roster Calipari has built and pointed out one particular player he has his eyes on (1:04).

“I like this Arkansas team, super talented up front," Goodman said. “It’s going to be interesting to see. They’ve got like nine deep of talented guys and Darius Acuff is going to be fun to watch. I don't think enough people are talking about him in that system and how electric he's going to be.”

Despite his praise of the Razorbacks' talent, Goodman argued that Calipari will need to determine how to make these impressive pickups play together early if he wants to win the SEC title.

“Now the question is how does it all mesh together with those guys as well?,” Goodman asked. “As we saw with Cal last year, he couldn't figure that sh*t out early with who to play and how to play.”

Meleek Thomas is just one of the skilled ballers joining Calipari's squad next season. The Razorbacks have what it takes to find success in the SEC but will need to learn to work together from the get go.

About the author

Lindsey Ware is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over five years of experience working with publications such as The News & Observer, The Daily Tar Heel, Triangle Tribune and Cardiac Cane. She has also worked for Major League Baseball, The Holly Springs Salamanders, The Tri-City Chili Peppers, Tuffy Talk, Super Meteors Basketball, Just Good Network and Living Sport.

Lindsey has a Bachelor’s Degree in Media and Journalism from UNC Chapel Hill. Her education allowed Lindsey to gain experience in sports communication, which she honed in internships. Other than being a storyteller and sports fanatic, Lindsey is also a social media and marketing specialist.

Her favorite college team is UNC, although she grew up a N.C. State fan as both of her parents are Wolfpack alumni. Michael Jordan was a huge deal in North Carolina when Lindsey was growing up, and after a summer spent at UNC’s Sports Journalism Camp back in high school, Lindsey was set on being a Tar Heel.

Lindsey's favorite college coach of all time is Roy Williams. During her time attending UNC Chapel Hill and writing for The Daily Tar Heel, Lindsey was lucky enough to meet and speak with Williams a few times. He was like a celebrity on UNC’s campus and was beloved for his coaching style and success with the Tar Heels, accumulating three NCAA championship titles in 18 years.

When not watching or writing about sports, Lindsey enjoys reading, trying new restaurants and coffee shops, and spending time with my friends, family and dog. She also likes to journal, watch movies and paint.

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Edited by Rajdeep Barman