Arkansas signee Meleek Thomas shares 1-word reaction as Tennessee signed Amari Evans sets a new OTE record 

Meleek Thomas, the Arkansas signee and No. 11 recruit in the class of 2025, was hyped about his teammate and Tennessee signee Amari Evans' achievement after their 93-75 win against the Jelly Fam in OTE on Friday. Evans, a former defensive player of the year, broke the record for the most steals in OTE history.

Thomas shared a post by OTE congratulating Evans on his Instagram story:

Arkansas signee Meleek Thomas shares 1-word reaction as Tennessee signed Amari Evans sets a new OTE record (Image: IG/@meleek.thomas)

"Special," Thomas wrote.

In the same game, Thomas was awarded the Prime Player of the Game after he recorded a double-double with 29 points and 12 rebounds. He knocked down five 3-pointers. He also had four assists and two steals on 41.7% shooting (50.0% from the 3-point line).

Evans also finished the game with a double-double, 18 points and 11 rebounds on 30.0% shooting (33.3% from beyond the arc). He also recorded five assists and five steals.

Evans, who is ranked at the 68th spot nationally, 20th in the shooting guard position and seventh in Georgia, took official visits to Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Xavier before he signed for the Volunteers on Nov. 1 after rejecting programs like Pittsburgh, Xavier, Oklahoma State and Providence, among others.

On the other hand, Thomas is ranked third in the shooting guard position and second in Georgia. Thomas led Lincoln Park High School to consecutive 4A PIAA Championships in 2023 and 2024. Thomas averaged 23.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.3 steals per contest.

In the Nike EYBL, the 6-foot-3 shooting guard played for New Heights Lightning, averaging 20.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg and 2.4 apg in 27.0 minutes per contest. Thomas has also been selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game on April 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the 2025 Iverson Classic, which will be held on May 3 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.

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Meleek Thomas talks about winning the MVP award

In a video published by OTE on Instagram, Meleek Thomas sat alongside coach Doug Martin, who claimed that Thomas was never behind individual accolades:

"He has never mentioned any individual accolades. Meleek has never mentioned to me, even when we are not seeing eye-to-eye, Meleek has never said to me 'hey coach Doug, you're messing up my draft, you're messing up my McDonald's chances, you're messing up me being the MVP."

Thomas was asked if he wanted to win the MVP:

"100%." Thomas said. "I always want to keep adding achievements to my resume. Just keep building it because at the end, I can't play basketball forever. So it's like, 'what did you do with your time?'"

"Obviously, I want MVP, but I'm not reaching for it, I'm not forcing it. If it happens, it happens for the right reason. God's gonna present that to me, but I never brought it up for a reason," he added.

Meleek Thomas will join John Calipari's side next season with Darius Acuff and Isaiah Sealy.