“There’s too many red flags”: College hoops insider gives a troubling account of Meleek Thomas after latest schedule misstep
Defending back-to-back national champions UConn Huskies may have soured on their interest to sign up five-star guard Meleek Thomas after the 6-foot-4 guard rescheduled his visit to Arkansas on Oct. 5 instead of this weekend.
According to Locked On UConn podcast host Mark Zanetto, Dan Hurley and the Huskies' coaching staff may have turned off on Thomas' recruiting missteps, including his propensity to cancel scheduled visits.
“(Thomas) changes his schedule constantly, he’s canceling visits … not only the Huskies, but people at Arkansas, Alabama are not exactly enamored with how he’s handling the recruiting process," Zanetto said (per Sports Illustrated).
Initially, Thomas was slated to pay a visit to Fayetteville to meet John Calipari's Arkansas last weekend but he reset this to Oct. 5 and Zanetto thinks this is one of the red flags that could go against Thomas in the long run, especially if he wants to go to a strict program like UConn.
"They feel like he's immature … There’s too many red flags with Meleek. … I just don't think there’s a chance they (UConn) even want him here anymore,” Zanetto added.
The college basketball insider took note of UConn's strict adherence to its recruitment process and Hurley won't bend his rules even if the player is the best in the batch.
“They’re so protective of their process. … If (Hurley) doesn’t respect your grind … he’s not going to respect you as a person or as a basketball player, no matter how good you are.”
Before the trip to Arkansas, Meleek Thomas is slated to visit the Alabama Crimson Tide on September 28, as per On3.com.
Meleek Thomas trims choices to seven schools
Meleek Thomas, the highest-rated shooting guard in the 2025 class as of 247 Sports, reduced his choices to seven schools. These are Arkansas, Alabama, UConn, Auburn, Kansas, Kansas State and Pittsburgh.
The combo guard, who signed up with Overtime Elite for the 2024-25 season, tallied averages of 22.7 points and 10.2 rebounds during high school at Lincoln Park Performing Arts School. He had initial visits with Auburn on Jan. 12 and UConn on June 19.
Meleek Thomas is yet to schedule visits to Kansas, Kansas State and Pittsburgh although October and November are still open for a short trip to the three schools. Thomas is a polarizing prospect, worth taking a risk by basketball programs due to his outstanding potential as a shooting guard. However, his reported lack of discipline with regard to scheduling visits could turn off schools interested in securing his services.