Villanova's Malcolm Thomas commits to transfer to Dayton

Malcolm Thomas has committed to transfer to Dayton. That comes per On3’s Joe Tipton.

Thomas did not play as a true freshman this season at Villanova. The Wildcats had high hopes for him, though, in their program as “a rising forward who has continued to improve at every step in his development”.

“Malcolm is a high-energy athletic forward whose game really fits the way we like to play. As the son of an accomplished professional athlete, he is already a high-level defender who can score from mid-range and is becoming a 3-point threat,” Kyle Neptune, former head coach at ‘Nova, said of Thomas. “There is so much upside to Malcolm’s game.”

Thomas, a native of Mitchellville, Maryland, played his high school basketball at DeMatha Catholic. He was the No. 199 overall recruit there as a three-star in the 2024 cycle. He also rated as a Top-40 PF in the class and the No. 3 player out of the state of Maryland. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

During his high school recruitment, Thomas was down to Villanova as well as California, Florida State, Vanderbilt, and Xavier after also considering Miami, Ole Miss, and Virginia Tech. Then, with his commitment to the Wildcats in October of 2023, he would be the lowest-rated of the trio of freshmen they brought in for ’24.

Now, amidst the coaching change from Neptune to Kevin Willard, Thomas is one of seven departures from the team this offseason. Villanova has also lost one of their other freshman in Josiah Moseley (Texas Tech) along with Enoch Boakye, Kris Parker, Jordann Dumont, Aleksandar Gavalyugov, and Nnanna Njoku.

With this, Dayton has now added four transfers during this portal cycle to start the offseason. The Flyers have also earned commitments from De’Shayne Montgomery (Georgia), Adam Njie (Iona), and Jordan Derkack (Rutgers). None of them, though, currently, per the latest update, rank within the Top-325 players of On3’s Industry Ranking for 2025’s Top Transfer Portal Players. They’ve also lost a trio of players to the portal themselves with transfers by Malachi Smith (UConn) along with Marvel Allen and Hamad Mousa.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.