PORTAL PROFILE: Dedan Thomas Jr.

By Hunt Palmer

The SEC has a chance to put a bow on the greatest basketball season in conference history this weekend. The league blitzkrieged the country in November and December and wound up with 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament. That group of 14 teams has won 22 games and is guaranteed a win on Saturday when Auburn and Florida play in the Final Four.

LSU clearly didn’t match the level of its conference competition. The challenge now is to build a roster capable of keeping up, and that comes from the transfer portal.

That ball started rolling on Monday when LSU grabbed commitments from Michael Nwoko and Dedan Thomas Jr. That momentum continued with the additions of Rashad King and Max Mackinnon.

We’ll break down every portal commitment the Tigers reel in with our Portal Profile. This edition features Dedan Thomas Jr., point guard from UNLV.

WHAT WE KNOW

When Thomas signed, I wrote that he was a five-star prospect. He was prior to reclassifying. When he signed in 2023, bypassing his senior year of high school, his ranking dipped to reflect his positioning among his new peers. Still, he was a high-level recruit.

Thomas ranked as the No. 8 point guard in America by 247sports and ESPN. On3 ranked him No. 10. He was in the top 51 players nationally by all three services.

Thomas is a legacy at UNLV. His dad starred there for Jerry Tarkanian in the early 1990s. Thomas Sr. was just after the national title team in Vegas that featured Larry Johnson, Anderson Hunt, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony. The younger Thomas was raised in Las Vegas and picked his dad’s alma mater.

Even though he was a year younger than the rest of the country, Thomas played great basketball as a freshman. He started all 34 games for the Runnin’ Rebels and was 2nd Team All-Mountain West and co-Freshman of the Year.

He led the team in scoring at 13.6 points per game, assists at 5.2 per game and three-point shooting, 36 percent.

His 174 assists set a Mountain West freshman record and led all NCAA freshmen. He was the only rookie to finish the season in the top 50 nationally.

Quick thread breaking down the film of LSU’s newest point guard, Dedan Thomas Jr.

His biggest impact on Matt McMahon’s team will be as a passer.

Talented playmaker, a walking paint touch who makes quick decisions.

Better passer than his 4.7 assists per game pic.twitter.com/jpZr7gF0Js

— Toyloy Brown III (@TJ3rd_) April 1, 2025

As a sophomore, he upped his scoring to 15.6 points per game, and he did it by only making 24 threes in 26 games. Only four times all season did he make multiple threes in a game.

He missed the final month of the season with a shoulder injury.

In his two seasons in Las Vegas, Thomas was the primary ball handler and offensive initiator.

THE FIT

Matt McMahon has not solved his point guard issues in three seasons at LSU. Justice Hill’s game did not translate to the SEC. Jalen Cook came back from Tulane and was on and off the floor. When he was on it, he was inefficient. This past season, Jordan Sears ended up giving up playing time for Curtis Givens who wasn’t ready to make plays as a true freshman. Cam Carter kind of had to handle everything.

That has to change for LSU to climb out of the bottom of the SEC.

Enter Thomas Jr. The lefty guard is coming to Baton Rouge to run the show. He will be LSU’s primary ball handler in charge of dictating pace, creating shots and getting his own when necessary. You cannot win in college basketball without getting this position right.

6’1 PG Dedan Thomas Jr. has been one of the best players in the Mountain West this season!! Over his last 5 games, he’s averaging:

• 17.6 PPG
• 5.6 APG

Thomas Jr. has a ridiculous first step and has been the engine of UNLV’s offense as an elite paint touch threat that can… pic.twitter.com/VtUrpAylGr

— Workin It Hoops (@workinithoops) February 4, 2025

Thomas will run the point. Givens will back him up, and Jalen Reece will provide depth as a freshman. All three were top 20 point guards in their respective classes.

HUNT’S PROJECTION

Thomas is the most gifted point guard LSU has had in the McMahon era. It’s a low bar, but it is what it is. I love the fact that he ran the show at UNLV as a freshman. He’s played a ton of college basketball. Two years ago, he led freshmen nationally in minutes played.

He’ll be surrounded by the best supporting cast of his life at LSU. Rashad King and Max Mackinnon are scorers with length. Jalen Reed and Robert Miller have some skill at 6-foot-10.

I think Thomas is going to be a five-to-six assist per game player who averages about 10 points per game.

My biggest concern is Thomas’s size and athleticism. He’s not an explosive leaper, and he’s only 6-foot-1. I have zero concerns over his feel for the game and floor vision. Because LSU is not going to ask him to score 16 to 18 points per game, his ability to consistently score around the rim against the elite big in the SEC is not a huge concern for me.

I’m very encouraged that Mark Pope at Kentucky and Todd Golden at Florida were in on Thomas. Those guys had elite guards this year.

Thomas will need to drive to dish and make sure he makes threes as a consistent enough rate that opposing guards have to respect that so he can drive by them when that time comes.

Overall, Thomas is a great addition. If he plays as efficiently as he did at UNLV, LSU has its point guard problems remedied.