UND men's basketball lands first transfer of offseason
Apr. 4—GRAND FORKS — UND men's basketball picked up its first transfer Thursday.
Reggie Thomas, a 6-foot-1 point guard from NAIA Hastings College in Hastings, Neb., announced his commitment to the Fighting Hawks on social media Thursday afternoon.
He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Thomas, a native of Omaha, Neb., was named the Great Plains Athletic Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore last month. He was also named a First Team All-American. Both honors were the first in Hastings school history.
Thomas averaged 24.1 points per game, the fifth highest average in the NAIA. He set the Hastings single-season scoring record this year with 770 points. Thomas scored 1,329 points at Hastings, ranking him No. 28 all-time in scoring in two seasons.
He led Hastings to a GPAC tournament championship and ended with 32 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the title game.
Hastings lost in the opening round of the NAIA tournament and ended the season 23-9.
Thomas shot 50.7% from the field and 42.2% from three-point range this season. He averaged 37.8 minutes, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
He started all 61 games in his two seasons at Hastings.
Thomas was named the GPAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2022-2023.
Thomas is joining UND after the Hawks lost forward
B.J. Omot,
point guard
Tyree Ihenacho
and guards
Elijah Brooks
and Daniel Hong to the portal.
He'll slot in alongside fellow rising junior guards
Treysen Eaglestaff
and Eli King, two of the three returners from the core rotation for the Hawks this season.
Forward Amar Kuljuhovic is the other remaining rotation player from the UND squad that finished 18-14 overall and 10-6 in the Summit League, the Hawks' best season under coach Paul Sather.
Thomas will look to fill Ihenacho's shoes this season, and it won't be an easy task. Sather trusted Ihenacho's decision-making on the court, empowering Ihenacho to truly lead the offense. Thomas will need to earn that trust.
Ihenacho was also UND's second-leading scorer behind Omot, averaging 14.5 points, 5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. If Thomas' success at Hastings translates to the Division I level, UND will be in good shape.
The Summit League looks to be wide open next season after players like South Dakota State's Zeke Mayo and William Kyle III, Omaha's Frankie Fidler and North Dakota State's Andrew Morgan and Boden Skunberg all entered the portal after it opened March 18.
