Malik Thomas gets waiver, UVA is heavy favorite

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia’s basketball team is expected to gain a major boost any day now because former San Francisco shooting guard Malik Thomas has been granted another season of eligibility via a hardship waiver from the NCAA.

Thomas told Jeff Goodman of “The Field of 68” that Virginia is the “heavy favorite” for his services. This would be a good get for Ryan Odom’s program, one that Wahoo fans are already excited about.

The 6-foot-5, 205-pound senior is a three-level scorer with a solid perimeter shot, a pull-up mid-range jumper and the strength to finish at the rim, which would only strengthen an already impressive Cavaliers backcourt.

Last season at San Francisco, Thomas averaged 19.9 points per game, shot 44.4 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from the arc over 32 minutes per game. In 2023-24, also for the Dons, he averaged 12.4 points per contest, making 47.5 percent of his field-goal attempts and 40 percent of his 3-point tries, playing an average of 23 minutes per game.

Thomas started out the first two years of his career at Southern Cal.

Should he sign with Virginia, Thomas would join a backcourt with freshman Chance Mallory (5-9) along with Jacari White (6-3), Dallin Hall (6-4) and Elijah Gertrude (6-4), along with 6-6 Sam Lewis and 6-7 Devin Tillis.

UVA’s frontcourt is presently comprised of 6-8 Silas Barksdale, 6-8 Martin Carrere, 6-11 Johann Grunloh and 7-0 Ugonna Onyenso. The Cavaliers are also pursuing 6-8 stretch forward Thijs De Ridder from Belgium (see related story on this site).