Khalid Thomas, nation's No. 1 JC prospect and former West Linn star, commits to Texas Tech over Oregon, others

Former West Linn star Khalid Thomas on his official visit to Texas Tech (Courtesy of Khalid Thomas)

Oregon high school basketball has been down in recent years, failing to produce more than a handful of quality college hoops prospects.

But former Oregon talents have bucked that trend in the junior college ranks, as the top two prospects nationally are former West Linn star Khalid Thomas and former Benson star Will Likayi.

On Monday, the biggest of those stars came off the board, as Thomas announced his commitment to Texas Tech over offers from Arizona, Baylor, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, San Diego State and others:

As a freshman at College of Southern Idaho last season, the 6-foot-9, 202-pound forward averaged 14.7 points and 6.5 rebounds to lead his squad to the national championship game.

Thomas visited Texas Tech over the weekend, and immediately felt at home.

"The visit overall was really solid, as you can probably guess," he said. "What stuck out to me the most was the atmosphere. Everybody, including the coaches, are hands-on. The players are hands-on with the program. Everybody is invested. That was the biggest thing for me - the family atmosphere."

Rather than continue with the recruiting process, Thomas decided he was ready to shut things down, canceling three more scheduled trips.

"I shut it down," he said. "I had Arizona this weekend. I had Oregon set up. I had Baylor. To be honest, I just didn't think I was going to find a visit better than that one."

Thomas will play the upcoming season at College of Idaho, and will have three years to play two in Lubbock, Texas, although he is expected to forego any redshirt season and become an immediate contributor for the Red Raiders.

"They want me to come in and be an impact player, starter from Day 1," he said.

-- Andrew Nemec
anemec@oregonian.com
@AndrewNemec

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