The wait is over: Meleek Thomas officially announced his commitment to the Arkansas basketball program Monday night.
A five-star shooting guard with Overtime Elite, the Pittsburgh native chose John Calipari and the Razorbacks over two-time defending national champion UConn and hometown school Pitt.
It is a major win for Arkansas, as Thomas is a consensus five-star recruit who checks in at No. 8 nationally in the Class of 2025, according to the 247Sports Composite.
The Razorbacks now have two commitments ahead of the early signing period, which begins Wednesday and lasts for a week. He joins fellow five-star prospect No. 12 overall recruit Darius Acuff Jr., a point guard originally from Detroit who now plays at IMG Academy.
Together, Acuff and Thomas immediately give Arkansas one of the best freshman backcourt tandems in the country – and one of the better ones during the recruiting rankings era.
It is just the eighth time since 2003, which is how far back the 247Sports Composite rankings go, that a team has landed two guards ranked inside the top 15. Six of those duos have been recruited by Calipari:
| Year | School | Players (247Sports Composite ranking) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Arkansas | Meleek Thomas (No. 8) & Darius Acuff Jr. (No. 12) |
| 2021 | Kentucky | Shaedon Sharpe (No. 3) & TyTy Washington (No. 15) |
| 2020 | Kentucky | Brandon Boston Jr. (No. 5) & Terrence Clarke (No. 8) |
| 2018 | Duke | RJ Barrett (No. 1) & Tre Jones (No. 15) |
| 2016 | Kentucky | De’Aaron Fox (No. 6) & Malik Monk (No. 11) |
| 2015 | Kentucky | Jamal Murray (No. 11) & Isaiah Briscoe (No. 12) |
| 2013 | Kentucky | Andrew Harrison (No. 5) & Aaron Harrison (No. 6) |
| 2007 | North Carolina | Ty Lawson (No. 6) & Wayne Ellington (No. 9) |
The last two times it happened, only half of the duo really ended up playing college ball.
Shaedon Sharpe reclassified and enrolled early, but never played for the Wildcats before declaring for the NBA Draft, while Terrence Clarke’s lone season at Kentucky was severely limited because of injuries before he tragically died in a car accident leading up to the NBA Draft.
When the guards have actually played, though, it typically resulted in a lot of wins.
The RJ Barrett/Tre Jones duo helped Duke to a No. 1 ranking in the final AP Poll, which is released prior to the NCAA Tournament, before losing in the Elite Eight.
De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk helped Kentucky win the SEC regular-season and tournament titles before losing to eventual national champion North Carolina in the Elite Eight.
The Wildcats also won the SEC regular-season and tournament titles with Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe, but lost in the second round of the big dance. The Harrison twins, meanwhile, lost in the national championship game as freshmen and were key parts of the Kentucky team that went undefeated until losing in the Final Four as sophomores.
It would probably never happen today, but Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington stuck around for three years at North Carolina, helping the Tar Heels to an Elite Eight as freshmen and Final Four as sophomores before winning it all as juniors.
There is no guarantee that kind of success will be in store for Arkansas basketball in Year 2 of the John Calipari era, as he’ll still have to put pieces around them, but Thomas and Acuff are certainly an excellent starting point.
Full-Circle Moment for Hogs
Among the players listed above, one should stand out more than the others to Arkansas basketball fans: Malik Monk.
The younger brother of former Arkansas football standout Marcus Monk was viewed as a potential savior for the Razorbacks and former coach Mike Anderson, but spurned his home state school to play for John Calipari at Kentucky.
A key to his commitment was De’Aaron Fox, who was vocal about his desire to play alongside Monk in college, despite both being focal points of the backcourt. Ultimately, it was enough to convince him to not stay home.
It appears that something similar happened with Darius Acuff Jr. and a different player by the same first name, albeit with a different spelling: Meleek Thomas.
Thomas was considering playing for a school just down the road from his hometown, the Pittsburgh Panthers, but instead chose to play for Calipari.
A major key in his recruitment was his official visit to Fayetteville last month. Not only did he get a great experience by witnessing the Razorbacks’ upset of No. 4 Tennessee and ensuing field storming, but he got to hang out with Acuff, who was also in town.
Initially, in the immediate aftermath of Acuff’s summer commitment, it was believed that the two ball-dominant guards wouldn’t want to play in the same backcourt. However, spending time together in Fayetteville that weekend in October likely sorted out any concerns.
Plus, Calipari recently told reporters “the best teams that I’ve coached had three point guards on the floor,” so it’s not much of a stretch to think he’d be able to convince them it’s a good idea.
Meleek Thomas Scouting Report
Meleek Thomas can score with the best of the best, especially other prospects around his age. He’s got a smooth, locked-in jumpshot and a high IQ when it comes to getting to his spots and taking the best shot available to him.
Unlike a lot of high school prospects with great scoring talent, Thomas does a good job of not settling for tough shots – though he’s capable of making a few when he needs to. He doesn’t waste movements or play with his food when being guarded straight up in isolation situations.
Sure, he has a notable bag of dribble moves at his disposal, but if a quick first step or a one-dribble pull-up will get him an easy look, that’s the shot he’s going to take rather than trying to dribble the air out of the ball in an attempt to embarrass his defender.
There are plenty of young prospects who can put the ball through the hoop, however. It’s the other areas of Thomas’ game that truly set him apart as a top-10 player in this class and potential star at the next level.
His high IQ that allows him to make the easy plays as a score-first guard also helps him easily identify open teammates, both in transition and in half-court offensive sets. He’s a willing and unselfish passer despite being best described as a score-first shooting guard. You can see both showcased in the below video:
- at 7:00 – exceptional offensive IQ shown driving and essentially using a missed layup attempt as an assist for his big man
- at 5:00 – great feel on a drop-off pass
Thomas may not start with the ball in his hands as the primary facilitator at the collegiate level, but his ability to spot open teammates and deliver timely passes makes him an even more dangerous scoring threat.
Standing at 6-foot-5, Thomas has the tools to be a great defender at the next level. He lacks the raw, explosive athleticism of previous John Calipari-taught guards such as Malik Monk or De’Aaron Fox, but he does have a certain bounce to his step on both ends of the court driven by his competitive nature and natural lateral quickness.
He has good timing on both help-side blocks and off-ball steals that can create fast break opportunities – which Thomas also thrives in. He plays with great speed while rarely losing control of the ball or his body in transition scenarios, making quick decisions that usually end with either himself or a teammate getting a quality look in the paint or an open 3-pointer.
His biggest weakness at this point in his development is one very common among high school recruits – muscle mass. Thomas has a relatively thin frame, but that has not held him back as a scorer or defender in the slightest thus far. He’ll need to continue to build upon his frame – as virtually all high school recruits do – to become a truly impactful defender.
Potential 2025-26 Arkansas Basketball Roster
The only three players on the 2024-25 Arkansas basketball roster who will exhaust their collegiate eligibility this season are Johnell Davis, Jonas Aidoo and reserve Kareem Watkins.
However, of those who could technically return next season, many of them likely have their sights set on the 2025 NBA Draft.
Freshman Boogie Fland, in particular, has already shown flashes of his potential and looks like a potential lottery pick. Sophomore D.J. Wagner also has NBA potential, though it’s perhaps not as much of a sure thing as Fland at this point. For now, we’ll assume neither come back next season.
That leaves the door wide open for both Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas to join the team as Day 1 starters in the backcourt. This can be scary for a college team, especially with how older teams have shown their strength in recent tournament runs, but it’s important to remember that 2024-25 is the final year of players getting an extra COVID season.
So, it’s reasonable to think that next season freshmen could go back to having a bigger impact as a whole on teams than they have for the last several years – including how they used to impact Calipari’s more successful teams at Kentucky.
Arkansas still has its sights set on a few more freshmen for the 2025 class, though it’s likely Calipari won’t take more than four total given his newfound strategy of having older teams.
Here are several other potential options for the Class of 2025, as well as where they’re ranked in the 247Sports Composite:
- PF Nate Ament: 6-foot-9 | No. 4
- PF Caleb Wilson: 6-foot-9 | No. 5
- PF/C Chris Cenac Jr.: 6-foot-10 | No. 24
- G/F Shon Abaev: 6-foot-7 | No. 30
- F Miikka Murrinen: 6-foot-10 | No. 12 in 2026 class (candidate to reclassify)
- SF Isaiah Sealy: 6-foot-7 | No. 70
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Check out some more clips of Meleek Thomas here:
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