Liberty’s Dedan Thomas (11) takes the ball upcourt during the Big City Showdown basketball tournament at Cox Pavilion at UNLV Saturday, Jan 21, 2023. Durango’s Tylen Riley (10) defends at left.
Monday, June 5, 2023 | 11:10 a.m. | Monday, June 5, 2023 | 11:10 a.m.
UNLV basketball has its point guard.
Top recruit D.J. Thomas reclassified from the Class of 2024 and will join the Scarlet and Gray for the 2023-24 season, the team announced on Monday.
Thomas, a 6-foot-1 floor general who led Liberty to a state championship in 2022, is expected to be the starting point guard when the season tips off. As a junior last year he posted 22.8 points and 5.1 assists to earn Gatorade State Player of the Year honors.
He committed to UNLV on May 14, following in the footsteps of his father, Dedan Thomas, who played for the program from 1991 to 1994.
D.J. Thomas is rated the No. 21 player in the Class of 2024 by 247 Sports and the No. 2 point guard.
UNLV and Thomas were in talks to reclassify throughout his recruitment. The consensus among local high-school coaches is that he should be able to step in right away and play a major role at the Division-I level.
With Thomas on board for the upcoming season, UNLV is down to one remaining open scholarship.
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
