Marshall Basketball: Herd to Add Five Star Recruit Chris Thomas

CBS Sports College basketball writer Jon Ronthstein is reporting that Chris Thomas will sign a letter of intent and attend Marshall University in the fall.

Thomas has taken a long and winding road to Marshall. He attended at least three different high schools including Montebello (CO), Princeton Day Academy (MD), and South Kent Prep (CT) before enrolling at Chipola Junior College (FL) and earning his GED. Thomas did not play basketball during his freshman year at Chipola but did join the team last year, averaging 9.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assist per game.

Thomas committed to Xavier in April of 2012 but re-opened his recruitment when his lead recruiter, assistant coach Rasheen Davis left for a similar position at Manhattan College. Davis continued to pursue Thomas at Manhattan and last November the 6-foot-5 shooting guard signed a letter of intent with the Jaspers. 

Thomas was arrested in Florida late last year for operating a unregistered vehicle without a valid driver’s license. After being granted a conditional release Thomas tested positive for marijuana in March, violating the terms of his pre-trial program. The positive test and subsequent arrest kept Thomas out of Chipola's final two games of the season and cost him his spot at Manhattan. 

There have also been questions about Thomas's character on the basketball court. According to a NBC Sports article he "led last summer’s circuit in technical fouls and verbal outbursts during games, if such statistics were ever kept."

Before enrolling at Chipola, ESPN ranked Thomas as one of the top 10 prospects in the class of 2013. That same year he was also named a five star recruit by Rivals.com.

Entering his lone season at Chiploa, JUCORecruiting.com called Thomas the 9th best junior college prospect in this year’s recruiting class. Besides Marshall, Manhattan, and Xavier, many other schools including Memphis, Iowa State, and Colorado have recruited the talented shooting guard.