WVU steamrolled Pittsburgh this past Thursday in the 192nd edition of the basketball Backyard Brawl. WVU’s bench was deep in the win, and a few players provided first-year head coach Ross Hodge with great minutes off the bench, but one player stood out off the bench.
Freshman forward DJ Thomas had a nice performance off the bench in the dominating 71-49 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Thomas finished with 10 points and five rebounds in the victory. From the floor, the freshman shot 4-of-9, including going 2-of-5 from behind the arc. Earning 23 minutes on the floor, Thomas is getting more opportunities with the injury to Jackson Fields, and Thomas is doing a fine job with his added opportunities.
Thursday’s game against Pittsburgh was his second double-digit point night in four WVU games in the 2025-2026 season. In 23 minutes of action against Campbell, Thomas also recorded 10 points and added one rebound and one steal. Across all four games, Thomas is averaging 7.5 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game.
True freshman Thomas was a three-star recruit coming out of high school, according to 247Sports. Thomas was 247Sports’ 28th-ranked high school recruit in the state of Texas and the 63rd power forward recruit in the country in the Class of 2025. He initially committed to Hodge when he was still the head coach at North Texas, but followed Hodge when he made the jump to West Virginia.
As a true freshman, Thomas is one of two true freshmen to receive minutes off the bench. Other fellow true freshman Amir Jenkins is a true freshman who should be a senior in high school, but decided to reclassify and graduate early to join the Mountaineers this season. Jenkins is also an important piece off the bench as a guard who can handle the ball and bring it up the court for the WVU offense. Jayden Forsythe, Evans Barning Jr., and MJ Feenane, are also true freshmen but have not gotten a lot of minutes of game action this season.
Thomas’ role might be diminished with the return of Fields coming in the near future, but that does not take away from what he has given Hodge and WVU through the first four games of the season. Having another body on the bench that has in-season experience stringing quality minutes will also help Hodge navigate future foul trouble. Thomas is a very nice piece to have off the bench.