2025 5-star Meleek Thomas commits to Arkansas

By Kevin McPherson

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas head coach John Calipari landed his second national Top 10-rated prospect from the class of 2025 as highly regarded Meleek Thomas announced his pledge to the Hoop Hogs on Monday.

Thomas (6-4 guard, Pittsburgh native, Overtime Elite, composite national No. 7 / 5-star prospect) chose Arkansas over two-time defending national champion UConn, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Auburn, Alabama, and Kansas State.

A source told Hogville on Tuesday, Oct. 22, that Thomas had just privately committed to Calipari and Arkansas. Thomas took his official visit to Arkansas the weekend of Oct. 4-6 after postponing two previous planned OV’s to Fayetteville (the first in late June, the second in mid-September). He also visited UConn, Auburn, and Pittsburgh.

He becomes Arkansas’ second 5-star commitment in the 2025 recruiting class and the fifth 5-star pledge of the Calipari era as Head Hog. He joins 2025 national No. 5 / 5-star Darius Acuff, Jr. (6-3 guard, Detroit native, IMG Academy) who pledged to the Hogs in late July.

It means that Arkansas is the only program in the nation that currently has two committed national Top 10 / 5-star prospects.

While Thomas was making his first visit to Arkansas over the aforementioned Oct. 4-6 weekend, Acuff was also on campus making his second visit to Arkansas. Among their mutual college favorites, both players took official visits to two-time defending natioanl champion UConn before eventually pledging to Calipari and the Razorbacks.

Thomas and Acuff should operate as complementary fits in the backcourt, and the combination assures Calipari and Arkansas of having the nation’s highest-rated 1-2 backcourt recruiting haul in the 2025 class.

Both players are expected to sign their national letters of intent during the week-long early signing period that begins later this week (Nov. 13-20).

Thomas is off to a fast start for the City Reapers at Overtime Elite as he notched back-to-back double-doubles through his first two games. He’s averaging 25.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 steal in 30.0 minutes per game while shooting 40.6% from the field, including 8-of-17 from 3 (47.1%), and 16-of-18 from the free throw line (88.9%).

Thomas was a standout performer for the 17U New Heights Lightning on the Nike EYBL grassroots circuit over the spring and summer, was the MVP of the Pangos All American Camp in June, was one of the top performers at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in June, and he drew rave reviews from the Overtime Elite (OTE) Combine held in late September.

Calipari and a host of Arkansas assistants were courtside to see Thomas throughout those spring and summer performances, and that in-person recruiting attention carried over into the September and October recruiting periods.

Prior to joining the OTE program for his senior season, Thomas led Lincoln Park Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh to back-to-back state championships as a junior and sophomore.

Thomas is an elite scorer — he’s long, bouncy, skilled, and fearless with an alpha mentality — who brings elite two-guard / wing ability with the potential to initiate offense as a primary ball-handler in two-man action as well as isolation scenarios.