Competition Growing for Pitt 5-Star Target

Competition for the Pitt Panthers to land a 2025 5-Star Target continues to grow.

Lincoln Park s Meleek Thomas dunks the ball during Friday s PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal game against North Catholic at Fox Chapel High School. / Sally Maxson / for BCT / USA TODAY NETWORK

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers continue to face competition to land the commitment of five-star guard target in the Class of 2025 in Meleek Thomas.

Thomas recently scheduled two more official visits in Arkansas on Sept. 13 and Alabama on Sept. 27, according to Joe Tipton of On3. Both of these teams are in his top seven schools, along with Pitt, Kansas, Kansas State, Auburn and back-to-back National Champions UConn.

He previously made visits to Auburn Jan. 12 and Kentucky on Feb. 2. With John Calipari leaving for Arkansas, Kentucky is out on Thomas going forward and his attention is towards Arkansas.

Thomas also made official visits in June to other programs, including UConn, June 19-21, and then Arkansas the following week, June 25-27, making this upcoming visit his second with the program.

Thomas starred for Lincoln Park in Midland, Pa., north of Pittsburgh in Beaver County, winning back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA state titles, as they've dominated Pennsylvania in more recent years. 

He averaged 22.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.2 steals per game, respectively last 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 Class of 2024 recruit, Brandin Cummings, made for the best duo not just in the WPIAL, but in the commonwealth too. Pitt fans would love to not just see Cummings play at the Petersen Events Center, but Thomas too.

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

He spoke to Tipton about the Panthers coaching staff continuing to get in touch with him and that watching how Bub Carrington went in the NBA Draft lottery lets him know he can go pro easily with the program. 

“They’re on me heavy, still, Thomas said to Tipton about Pitt. "They’re pushing the hometown kid and letting me know that I can do everything I want from home. They’re contacting me every day, letting me know they are still here. They want me to keep them in the loop."

“Seeing Bub Carrington go one-and-done plays a big role. Seeing him do this in the most recent year lets me know that they can do it. When Pitt gets a player, they develop them and let get them where they want to go. So seeing that is big.”

Thomas also transferred to Overtime Elite in Atlanta, where he'll play his senior season of high school basketball. 

He'll join another fellow Class of 2025 Pittsburgh native/Pitt target at Overtime Elite in Amari Evans. Evans, who is a four-star guard, played for Bishop Canevin in Pittsburgh as a freshman, before ending up at Overtime Elite. Evans also plays for New Heights Lightning NYC.

Thomas is one of a number of Class of 2025 recruits that have put Pitt into their top schools list.

This includes top 10 schools for guards in Omari Witherspoon, out of Washington, D.C., Amari Evans out of Overtime Elite and Isaiah Denis out of Davidson Day School in Davidson, N.C. Cornelius Ingram II, who put Pitt in his top 10 schools back in July, announced his decision to commit to Florida on Aug. 12.

Four-stars in guard Derek Dixon put Pitt in his top six schools this week, while Four-star wingDavion Hannah and forward Niko Bundalo have Pitt in their top nine schools as well.

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