Four-star junior college forward to decide between two Pac-12 foes

It’s impossible to overstate the sense of urgency that Khalid Thomas has these days. The College of Southern Idaho forward who decommitted from Texas Tech on May 17th is set to visit two schools this weekend ahead of Wednesday announcement next week.

“I’m unofficially visiting Oregon on Saturday,” Thomas told Devils Digest, “and officially visiting Arizona State on Sunday. Arizona State was one of the very first schools to call me the day I reopened my recruitment. I’ve been talking to coach Hurley and coach Burno a lot. They told me that they would love for me to come in and do work right away and that they have a real opportunity for me down there. I like the style of play they have and I think it fits my game very well.

“So, I’m really excited to go down there for a visit and have a real serious (in-person) conversation with them, and let them know where my head is at, and see what the school is all about. My decision is going to be next Wednesday (May 29th).”

With departures of frontcourt players Zylan Cheatham and De’Quon Lake, who both graduated, as well as Vitaly Shibel and Uros Plavsic who transferred, the Sun Devils have a pressing need to add these types of players to their 2019 class and the four-star prospect certainly fits the bill here.

Thomas is the proverbial stretch forward who is a skilled sharpshooter. As a freshman for the College of Southern Idaho, he averaged 14.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point range.

This past season the forward missed nearly half of his sophomore campaign due to injury, which caused his numbers to drop somewhat to an average of 8.6 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 38.1 percent from the field and 35 percent on three-pointers.

“My strengths are my shooting,” Thomas remarked, “and pushing the ball up the floor because I got really better with my handle. I know I have to gain weight and be more physical.

“I don’t need anything to be handed to me, but I need to make sure that the minutes are there for me to shine. I only have two years left to play and I want to make sure that the school I go to can get me NBA ready, and that’s where I want to go. I need to make sure that that the school can help me get there.”

Thomas committed to Texas Tech on October 1st and signed with the Red Raiders a month later. At the time he had offers from the likes of LSU, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech Arizona, Baylor, Florida State, Oregon among others.

He stated that his phone has “been going ridiculous” since his decommitment, but that he has narrowed down his choices to ASU and Oregon. The forward who hails from Oregon and played his senior year at West Linn High School Claimed that the Ducks don’t necessarily have an advantage as the hometown school.

“These are the two schools I’m obviously the most comfortable with,” Thomas said, “but this is also the hardest decision I ever had to make in my life. It’s not about staying close to home or not, because I did sign with Texas Tech. Staying close to home isn’t an issue for me. It’s really about what is the best opportunity for me.

“I’m going to sit down with the coaches from both schools and tell them what I expect and what I’m looking for in a program.”