ESPN No. 7 prospect Thomas goes to Overtime Elite
Meleek Thomas, the No. 7 basketball possibility in ESPN’s class of 2025, is leaving Lincoln Park Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh to sign with Overtime Elite, he told ESPN on Tuesday.
“I did whatever I required to do where I’m from,” Thomas stated. “We won back-to-back state championships. Now it’s time to be seen by NBA workers, GMs, scouts, individuals that you need to be in front of. At OTE they get your name out. Whatever they do goes around the world. I wish to be relayed more.”
Thomas is the highest-ranked recruit to sign up with OTE up until now this offseason. He’s in the midst of a strong spring, averaging 20.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.4 helps in 27 minutes per game for New Heights Lightning in the Nike EYBL. A 6-foot-4 combination guard who has fun with aggressiveness and perseverance on both ends of the court, Thomas can put the ball in the basket in a variety of ways from all over the floor.He joins five-star employees Bryson Tiller, Mikel Brown, Akai Fleming and Lincoln Cosby in the upstart league from Atlanta, as well as four-stars Tyler Jackson, Adam Oumiddoch and Amari Evans. The league will reveal more signings in July for their fourth season of competition, which will once again feature 8 teams from around the country.
“Being a professional constantly is something I wish to do,” Thomas said. “Getting in the weight space and breaking leading players daily with a busy style of play will assist me establish a winning mentality against the best. Whatever I’m doing now will be shown up times 10. Nobody worldwide will stop me.”
Founded in 2021, OTE sent out twins Amen and Ausar Thompson to the NBA as top-five draft chooses in 2015 and will include several alumni to that list in June in potential No. 1 pick Alex Sarr, projected top-10 choice Rob Dillingham and more.Like Dillingham, who spent this previous season at the University of Kentucky, Thomas will preserve his college eligibility by signing a scholarship arrangement with OTE that enables him to benefit from Call, Image, and Likeness(NIL )opportunities while in high school.Thomas said he’ll take official check outs to UConn and Arkansas later this month. He’s likewise being heavily hired by Kansas, Auburn, Pitt, Alabama, Kansas State, Indiana, Tennessee, Miami and others.After arranging his official visit to UConn starting next week (June 19 ), Thomas stated he was at first caught off guard by the news that Dan Hurley was being pursued to be the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. “I didn’t anticipate that; it just popped up,”Thomas said.” He ended up turning it down, which must suggest something. That certainly makes UConn more appealing now. With all the cash he was provided, he’s still dedicated to the school he built up. Being extremely hired by him indicates they are serious. That’s the message I got. “Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private hunting and analytics service used by NBA, NCAA and global groups.