NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing the 9 main contenders for 5-star Meleek Thomas

One of the top high school players in the country is Meleek Thomas, a consensus five-star and top-10 overall player in the 2025 NCAA Basketball recruiting class. Originally from the Pittsburgh area, Thomas is a 6'4 combo guard with explosive scoring ability.

In September, Thomas announced a list of 12 options in the mix, including a few "blue blood" programs. Recently, he's visited a couple from the SEC, including John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. And now, there's a new reported list going out involving seven teams he's looking to visit.

If that's the case, that'll make it a final nine in consideration. Here's the latest on the potential roster fit for the class of 2025 star.

Auburn Tigers

Bruce Pearl is one of the top head coaches in all of NCAA Basketball and has had plenty of success with guards. 5-star freshman Aden Holloway has had success this season and the team has a 5-star commit (Tahaad Pettiford) committed in the 2024 class. This will be a team that needs a pure scorer like Thomas to remain a top team in the SEC and based on how he's worked with previous scoring guards, Coach Pearl would give Thomas the green light here.

Duke Blue Devils

With a team like Duke, it's hard to tell who'll be around two years from now. But 5-star future freshman Cooper Flagg likely won't be, along with guards, Jeremy Roach, Tyrese Proctor, and Jared McCain. But the appeal of this program will always having players' interests and if Thomas can be a lead piece, would get all the benefits. At the same time, playing time isn't guaranteed compared to other options.

Kansas Jayhawks

The Jayhawks are in the same situation as Duke, mainly when it comes to having crowded depth charts. The main difference is that Coach Bill Self will use more senior transfers, which can impact the roles of freshmen. But as long as Coach Bill Self remains in the picture, Kansas will remain a top-tier destination.