5-star Pitt Basketball Target commits to Arkansas

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt Panthers missed out on their top target in the class of 2025, who opted to commit to Arkansas.

Meleek Thomas, a five-star guard, announced his commitment to the Razorbacks over the Panthers and UConn Huskies, who he named in his final three schools on Nov. 4.

A native of Pittsburgh, Thomas played his first three seasons of high school basketball at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland, Pa. up in Beaver County, about 55-40 miles northwest of Pitt’s campus.

He averaged 22.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.2 steals per game. game in the 2023-2024 season while shooting 57% from the field, 38% from 3-point range and 78% from the free throw line.

His work with former teammate and Pitt freshman Brandin Cummings created the best duo not only in the WPIAL, but also in the Commonwealth. They won back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA Class 4A Championships together.

Thomas grew his relationship with Pitt’s coaching staff during his time in Pittsburgh, particularly head coach Jeff Capel and assistant coach Jason Capel. He also came to a number of games throughout last season to watch the team with Cummings and made his official visit in March.

Still, it wasn’t enough as he chooses to play for Arkansas and their new head coach, John Calipari, who recruited Thomas at Kentucky last season.

Most recruiting experts predicted Thomas would choose Arkansas over staying at Pitt or joining the back-to-back National Champions at UConn.

On3 had four writers choose Thomas to commit to Arkansas, 247 Sports had Travis Branham and Connor Godison give a “crystal ball” and a “7” or “high” rating for him to join the Razorbacks and Rivals six writers had predicted him to commit there.

Thomas transferred to play for Overtime Elite in Atlanta, joining former Pitt target and Pittsburgh native in four-star wing Amari Evans, who committed to Tennessee on Nov. 1.

Pitt also missed out on four-star guards in Derek Dixon, who plays for Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC, and Isaiah Denis, who plays for Davidson Day School in Davidson, NC, when they both committed to North Carolina in September. 27 and 2 November respectively.

Two more four-stars in wing Davion Hannah opted not to take his official visit to Pitt on Oct. 19, removing them from his final list, and four-star forward Niko Bundalo did not include Pitt in his final four schools.

Four-star wing Cornelius “CJ” Ingram II from Hawthorne High School in Hawthorne, Fla. had Pitt in his top 10 schools, but decided to commit to Florida, where his father played football.

Pitt has one commitment in the class of 2025 in four-star guard Omari Witherspoon, who plays for St. John’s College High School in Washington, DC

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