USC Basketball: Malik Thomas’ commitment moves Trojans to top of rankings

USC Basketball received a commitment from Malik Thomas and now has the top recruiting class in the nation.

It is extremely early in the 2021 recruiting calendar, but there is now a new program atop of the class rankings, which is USC Basketball. The Trojans, which entered the week third in 247Sports class rankings, moved up to the top spot after receiving its third 2021 commitment when four-star Malik Thomas verbally committed to the program on March 27.

“I picked USC because it’s always been my dream school,” the La Verne (Calif.) native told 247Sports. “It’s always great staying home and being able to play in front of family. I feel with my style of play, it fits into what USC is about, and the way they recruited me was awesome. I spoke to coach Andy Enfield and the coaching staff almost everyday.”

Thomas is a scorer who loves to pull the trigger off the bounce. He possesses tight handles and can get to the hoop where he is a solid finisher despite not having explosive athletic ability.

Thomas is coming off a fantastic junior campaign where he set a season-scoring record at Damien High School with 888 points. The 6-3 guard, a Baseline League first-team selection, averaged 25 points along with seven rebounds along and 2.7 trifectas a game. He led the Spartans to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoff and semifinals of the CIF State Southern California Division I playoffs. Thomas poured in 41 points in Damien’s 128-123 six-overtime victory over Poly/Riverside on March 5.

Thomas held five total offers with Arizona, Northern Arizona, Pepperdine and Washington being the other programs that he offered. Both 247Sports Composite and Rivals give the consensus top 130 recruit a four-star rating while 247Sports lists him as a three-star prospect. While all three services have Thomas ranked in the top 130, Rivals lists him at No.87 in the top 100 prospects in the country, and 247Sports have him just outside the top 100 at 103.

Thomas joins fellow Californian natives Reese Dixon-Waters, a consensus four-star recruit from Playa Del Ray, who committed on March 24, and three-star Santa Ana product Harrison Hornery.

USC and Wisconsin are the only two programs that currently have three commitments from the junior class. USC is projected to have four more scholarships available for 2021. The Trojans are ranked No. 2 in both 247Sports and Rivals recruiting rankings in 2021.