When the roster building process slowed briefly in April for the Virginia men’s basketball program, fans got a little antsy waiting for more news. Turns out, Ryan Odom and company were just letting some slower moving processes take place. The latest piece to fall into place came when San Francisco guard Malik Thomas opted to join the Hoos after receiving an NCAA waiver for another year of eligibility.
Thomas confirmed his commitment on social media.
Thomas began his career at Southern California where he played for two seasons in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. He then transferred to San Francisco for the two seasons that followed. The California native applied for an NCAA waiver for an extra year of eligibility after playing 18 total minutes as a freshman at USC. That process takes some time to work its way through the system, but the NCAA granted the waiver.
UVA had been linked to Thomas last month and emerged as the favorite if he received the waiver and decided on another year of college basketball. The suitors were numerous after two breakout years with San Fran in the West Coast Conference.
As a junior, he scored 12.4 points per game on strong shooting splits (52.7% on 2’s, 40.0% on 3’s, 86.1% on free throws) with 2.7 rebounds. After emerging as a starter in late December for 21 of the final 22 games, those numbers climbed to 15.1 points and 2.9 rebounds. He earned honorable mention All-WCC recognition.
The next season was even better. In 2024-2025, he poured in 19.9 points per game on similar splits (47.6% on 2’s, 39.4% on 3’s, 85.1% on free throws) with 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists. That last number showed a jump in playmaking skills as he averaged fewer than 1 assist per game over his previous three seasons. He earned first team All-WCC honors.
Over two seasons with the Dons, Thomas posted 23 games of 20+ points scoring. That included performances of 36, 35, 34, 34, 29, and 27 points this past season. Two of those came during the postseason. He fired off 27 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals against Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament Semifinals. In the NIT against Loyola Chicago, Thomas recorded 36 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.
The Thomas addition followed the commitment of German center Johann Grünloh, considered a potential second round NBA Draft pick this summer. Recruiting overseas is another process that can a little longer to get finalized. UVA also secured a commitment last week from Ugonna Onyenso, a former 4-star recruit out of Kansas State with significant defensive skills.
Overall, the Cavaliers have stockpiled some potential firepower and defensive chops with their transfer portal moves. In addition to Thomas' documented scoring ability, UVA has brought in others with proven track records too.
Jacari White averaged 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game at North Dakota State. Sam Lewis led Toledo led with an average of 16.2 points per game and led the Mid-American Conference with 44.4% 3-point shooting. Devin Tillis averaged 13.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists last season for UC Irvine. Dallin Hall averaged 4.1 assists to just 1.7 turnovers over his three seasons with BYU in addition to 7.7 points. Grünloh averaged averaged 8.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.6 blocked shots in the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. Over two years at Kentucky prior to a season with Kansas State, Onyenso had block rates of 15.9% and 15.3%. In 2024, he carded a blocks per foul ratio of 1.9, good enough for third in the nation.
Highlights for Thomas can be seen in the YouTube video here.
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