Campbellsville men’s basketball signs former Memphis forward Malik Thomas

Click to view image

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. -- Campbellsville University men's basketball has inked a third former NCAA Division I player for 2011-12 with the addition of former University of Memphis player Malik Thomas, CU head coach Keith Adkins announced Monday.

Thomas comes to Campbellsville from University of Charleston (NCAA D2), where he played his sophomore season in 2010-11 after playing his freshman season at Memphis in 2009-10. Thomas joins former LSU Tiger Dennis Harris and former Southern Illinois post player Jordan Myers as the Tigers' D1 recruits. At Memphis, he entered his collegiate career consider to be one of the Tigers' better conditioned players and top defenders of 2009. Thomas saw action in eight games, averaging only 1.3 minutes a game. Last season, he came off the bench 22 times and started once for Charleston as a sophomore, averaging 8.9 minutes a game and shooting 37.7 percent (23-of-61) from the field.

With the move to the NAIA, Thomas hopes to find a home as three-man for the Tigers.

"Malik is a big wing. He has the potential to be one of the better defender we've had since James Stewart. At 6'4, 210 pounds, he's very athletic, very strong and once again a physically gifted young man. He understands his incredible strength is on the defensive end, and we'll expect him to be a lockdown wing defensively," Adkins said.
Adkins sites numbers games and style of play as the obstacles for Thomas' moving around the past two seasons, but he sees the new Tiger as offering more than what he's shown the past two seasons. "He'll be the first to tell you he needs to work on his shooting a little bit from the perimeter, but when he gets that developed, he's going to be a very tough cover on the offensive end. He's a strong ball handler, good passer and can get by people and finish at the rim. He's some reputation away from being a really good perimeter shooter," Adkins said. "We look for big things from Malik in the future. On top of being an excellent basketball player, he's a top-notch student and one of the hardest working young men I've ever recruited. He's an absolute basketball junkie. If there's a ball bouncing, a weight room open or someone practicing, he's right in the middle of it. With an attitude and approach like that, you'd expect he'll definitely be successful."
In high school, Thomas was a National Honor Society student in addition to being an ESPN.com Top 20 prospect in the state of Maryland. He became a member of the Largo High School 1,000 Point Club and recorded eight double-doubles. He posted a career-high 41 points in a game against Forestville High School and 19 rebounds in a close battle with 2009 Kentucky state champion Covington Holmes High School. During his senior season, he averaged 19.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.3 steals. Thomas was an All-State, All-County and All-Metro selection in the Baltimore area. He helped lead Largo to the 2008 Maryland Class 3A state title as a junior.Thomas is one of seven Tiger recruits that will join returning Campbellsville players Kevin Bobson, Jonas Bohm and Reggie Smith for 2011-12. Adkins plans to fill a few more spots before the end of summer.

2011-2012 SIGNEES
Rilwan Bakare | F | 6-7 | Junior | Danville Community College | Chicago, Ill.
Darius Clement | PG |5-9 | Freshman | Bowling Green High School |Bowling Green, Ky.
Justin Ennis | G | 5-10 | Junior | Grayson County College | Huntsville, Texas
Dennis Harris | F | 6-11 | Junior | Louisiana State University | Jonesboro, Ga.
Jordan Myers | F | 6-8 | Sophomore | Southern Illinois University | Evansville, Ind.
Filip Stanic | F | 6-6 | Junior |Collin County College | Croatia
Malik Thomas | F | 6-4 | Junior | Univ. Charleston / Univ. Memphis | Baltimore, Md.