From @DanielFair:
The Arkansas Razorbacks have struggled a bit this season, but that won’t be the case next year if five-star guard Meleek Thomas has anything to say about it.
A 2025 Arkansas signee out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Thomas joined the 1-star Recruits podcast (yes, the same one that hosted athletic director Hunter Yurachek around this time last year) to talk about what he hopes to bring to Fayetteville next season.
“One immediate impact I’m going to bring to flip the script is just my energy, my leadership and my dominance,” Thomas told the podcast. “When I step onto the floor, anywhere I play at, I want to make my presence felt early, immediately. So I’m going to go in there and change the narrative.”
The No. 7 player in the nation according to Rivals is one of three high school signees for the Razorbacks this year, as he’ll join fellow five-star guard Darius Acuff Jr. and four-star guard Isaiah Sealy at Arkansas next season.
Coupled with some returning players and transfer portal adds, Thomas said he expects the Hogs to win plenty of games next season.
"The second year is going to be Arkansas’ turn-up year,” Thomas said. “Because it’s going to be me, Darius (Acuff Jr.), you’re going to have pieces coming back. My energy, my dominance, my leadership, how I’m able to score the ball and get my teammates open…it’s just going to change the narrative. I just don’t see us having a bad year at all next year.”
Led by Thomas, the City Reaperz are set to play in the Overtime Elite finals. His 26.8 points per game is good for second in the league and his 8.9 boards per game ranks third. He's shooting 38.2% from three and 48.2% from the field overall.
Arkansas coach John Calipari went in to see Thomas the day before the Hogs took down Texas, 86-81(OT), and Calipari watched Thomas drop 33 points to help beat Fear Of God Athletics, 95-72.
"I spent a lot of time with (Calipari) pregame just talking about how things were going, how I’m doing in OTE,” Thomas said. “He just wanted to check up on me and make sure things are progressing for me in the right way.”
Thomas committed to Arkansas on Nov. 11, 2024, over offers from schools like UConn, Alabama, Pittsburgh and others. Calipari had been recruiting him for nearly a year and a half, and part of what drew Thomas to the Head Hog was the Pittsburgh area, where both are from.
"(Moon Township) is where he’s from, but Pittsburgh is where he grew up, so it kind of hit me immediately,” Thomas said. “Especially with the kind of caliber coach he is, I never would have thought, before I knew that, that he was from the same area. So it was like, you’re that great of a coach and were from the same spot, so we could relate off that already.”
In addition to his high-level play at OTE, Thomas was also named to the McDonald's All-American Game roster and will play for the West team. He was also a Naismith Trophy First Team All-American Honorable Mention on Wednesday.
In the McDonald's All-American Game, he'll compete against his future teammate in Acuff, who was named to the East roster, as well as five-star forward Nate Ament, who is set to visit Arkansas this weekend before he makes his commitment on April 1.
Game 1 of the Overtime Elite finals between Thomas and the City Reaperz and YNG Dreamerz will tip off at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, March 7. The game will be streamed on Prime Video.
