Tag: Dedan Thomas Jr

Florida basketball misses out on top 2024 PG target

The Florida Gators missed out on their top point guard target in the 2024 class despite some strong relationships with the staff.

Florida basketball has had its eyes on [autotag]Dedan Thomas Jr[/autotag]. for a while now, but the Liberty (Henderson, Nevada) point guard is staying home after announcing his commitment to UNLV on Sunday.

“I stayed home because I felt the most comfortable,” he said to On3’s Joe Tipton. “I got a special feeling about the school that I didn’t get anywhere else.”

The Gators were considered frontrunners in this race because of the connections the coaching staff has had to him for several years. Todd Golden saw him at a camp over two years ago and associate head coach Carlin Hartman is the father of one of Thomas’ former teammates.

Those connections didn’t pay off, though, and the top-25 recruit decided to play his college ball a little closer to home instead.

Missing out on Thomas is a significant loss for Todd Golden and Co. on the recruiting trail. Houston was the other program in play, but Thomas did announce a top six that feature Arizona, Gonzaga and UCLA.

247Sports ranked Thomas No. 22 overall in the nation and No. 3 among point guards in the class of 2024. He’s also considered the top recruit out of Nevada.

Golden and his recruiting staff will now have to pivot and try and add another player in the class of 2024.

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Top-25 recruit arrives on campus for official visit to Florida

Florida is hosting a top-25 player in the class of 2024 over the weekend on an official visit, and he’s officially checked in from Gainesvile.

Four-star class of 2024 point guard [autotag]Dedan Thomas Jr[/autotag]. arrived on campus at the University of Florida for his official visit on Saturday, according to Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers.

Swamp247’s Jacob Rudner checked in with Thomas before the visit and learned that his decision will come down to comfortability when all is said and done.

“I just feel like for me to make a decision it’s going to be more of a feeling thing than anything,” Thomas said. “I want to get a feel for the place and see how comfortable I am.”

Thomas took officials visits to Arizona, Houston, Gonzaga and UCLA in 2022, but he’s saved the Gators for last.

This is Thomas’ first trip to Gainesville despite being in contact with the program since [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] took over. He met Golden at a camp in 2021 and has kept in contact with him, and Thomas knows associate coach Carlin Hartman extremely well after his younger brother played with Hartman’s son under him while they were in Las Vegas.

Those relationships should help out, but that’s what Florida has been leaning on for some time now. To seal the deal, the Gators will have to show him that Florida is the best fit. Thomas knows he’ll get a chance to play early at Florida with points guards [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag] and [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag] moving on from the college ranks next season, but he has to feel comfortable at the university to succeed.

There’s talk of Thomas reclassifying to the class of 2023 and joining the team next year, but that’s something he is still considering.

The 247Sports composite ranks him at No. 24 overall and at No. 4 among point guards in the country. He’s also the top-ranked player in Nevada from the class of 2024.

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Gators hoops hosting top-50 PG on official visit in the spring

The Gators are preparing to host one of the top point guards in the class of 2024 on an official visit in the spring.

Four-star Liberty (Henderson, Nevada) point guard [autotag]Dedan Thomas Jr[/autotag]. will take an official visit to the University of Florida on March 4, according to Jacob Rudner of 247Sports.

A top-30 prospect in the class of 2024 by 247Sports’ measure, Thomas is one of the top guards in his class. He said that multiple teams have posited the idea of him reclassifying and enrolling early but appears to be non-committal to the idea at this time. Right now, Florida’s pitch is that it needs a true point guard to join a team still figuring itself out.

“They got a new coaching staff this year and I already knew their staff from other schools so I already had a relationship with them,” Thomas said. “They said they’re having a rebuild year this year and then they will have that same group next year, the same core and they said they need a point guard and someone to run the team so they have a lot of talent and it’s a great position for a point guard to be in.”

The Gators offered Thomas in June after associate head coach Carlin Hartman reached out. Hartman and Thomas are already familiar with each other from the prospect’s days playing with the coach’s son. That relationship has only strengthened with time, which bodes well for Florida. UF’s director of player development, Taurean Green, also has a relationship with Thomas.

Currently, Florida has just [autotag]Thomas Haugh[/autotag] committed from the class of 2023 and no commitments from the class of 2024. Landing Thomas would be a huge win for Todd Golden and Co. regardless of whether he reclassifies or not.

The 247Sports composite ranks Thomas at No. 30 overall in the class of 2024 and No. 3 among point guards. He’s also the top-ranked player out of the state of Nevada.

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Gators basketball to host elite PG on campus for official visit during season

One of the top point guards in the class of 2024 is planning on making an official visit to the University of Florida during the season, per reports.

The football team isn’t the only athletic program at the University of Florida busy recruiting players for the future. The basketball team is set to host one of the top point guards in the class of 2024, four-star [autotag]Dedan Thomas Jr[/autotag]., during the season, according to 247Sports.

Thomas picked up an offer from the Gators back in June, and now Cal, Gonzaga, Miami, Stanford and USC have added their names to a list of potential suitors that already included Arizona, Houston, LSU and UCLA among others. He recently made his way to Los Angeles for an unofficial visit with the Bruins, and now he’s planning out his officials.

He has Houston locked into a Sept. 30 date and expects to be at Arizona around the same time. Although he hasn’t scheduled the rest of his trips yet, Florida and Gonzaga are at the top of his list.

“The Florida trip will be probably during the season when they start conference play,” Thomas told Swamp247. “The Florida visit will be official and the Gonzaga trip probably will be official as well.”

Thomas has developed relationships with several members of the Gators’ coaching staff over the year. Associate head coach Carlin Hartman knows him from his time coaching at UNLV (Thomas is a Nevada kid), head coach Todd Golden was coaching at San Francisco when Thomas attended a camp and director of player development Taurean Green would come to some of his games before joining the UF staff.

Whether those ties pay off in the long run remains to be seen, but it’s better to have some familiarity with the staff than none at all. It’s only been two months since Florida started talking to him, but that communication seems to have gone a long way.

The 247Sports composite ranks Thomas No. 5 among point guards and as the 38th-best player in the class of 2024. The site’s individual rankings are a bit more bearish on him, ranking him 59th overall nationally and No. 8 among players at the one.

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