Malik Thomas is a Wahoo

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Arguably the best player in the West Coast Conference last season is headed to the Atlantic Coast to become part of Ryan Odom’s rebuilding of Virginia’s basketball program.

Malik Thomas, a player who the knowledgeable UVA hoops fans had been hoping to land from the get-go, committed to the Cavaliers on Saturday. Gonzaga, which had faced Thomas the past two years, desperately attempted to lure him to Spokane, but the former San Francisco Dons star ultimately chose Virginia.

The 6-foot-5 senior shooting guard was given a hardship waiver for an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA last week, and Thomas made it clear to all pursuers that he was leaning heavily to Virginia. He gives the Cavaliers an even more loaded backcourt with lots of players for Odom to run his style of offense.

Thomas was certainly among the best players in the WCC last season, averaging 20 points per game, shooting 39.4 percent from the 3-point arc and 85 percent from the free-throw line. He also averaged 3.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 steals per outing.

A three-level scorer with the perimeter shot, a nice pull-up mid-range jumper and the strength to finish at the basket, some observers believed Thomas should have been awarded the WCC Player of the Year last season.

He started his career at Southern Cal but struggled to get playing time, so after two seasons with the Trojans, transferred to San Francisco where he found his game and flourished the last two seasons.