Marcus Thornton update

Good to hear. Also good to hear the kid, who seems very intelligent, will start school in June. He may not be the answer to the need for the traditional big man inside, but I have a good feeling about him.

As an interesting side note, he has eliminated Kentucky which is reported to have 8 or 9 scholarship players and a walk on at this point, having been rejected by Leslie, Jones, and now Thornton.
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I suspect Orton and Bledsoe are being desperately asked to reconsider.
 
sounds good, so far. would love to get this guy.

one rumor is that he eliminated kentucky, even though they have space, because calipari has michael gilchrist coming in the next year. have not idea if that's true. we seem to still be recruiting lebryan nash for 2011 and winston shepard for 2012. both of them at top10 SF-types. not sure if that would be any factor against us.
 
Saw the Wear twins are transferring from UNC. Does that leave them with only Zeller and Henson in the post? Brutal...
 
Well according to Orton's father, he'd make Cousins look like a joke if they got equal playing time...so I'm sure that means he's ready to be a star from day 1 in the NBA. Not like he has huge maturity issues, no offensive game to speak of, and is...uh...fat.

Bledsoe was doing his best Justin Mason impression in that epic choke against West Virginia.
 
Orton's father??? Think he's be a tad bit biased here and not objective.
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Let's ask Mama Orton what she thinks?
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So sorry to have let this thing get sidetracked with silliness about Calipari's bunch; as further apology, let me route this thread back to info about Thornton.

Some insights offered by family about his visit to Austin.
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Thornton is impressed by Longhorns in the NBA having the continued presence in Austin and is not bothered by the distance from home. His father was impressed by the facilities, and both father and son are no longer concerned about UT's reputation as a football only school.
 
bierce,

His skillset on tape really reminded me of Damion James, except Thornton seems to be a little more fluid and further developed offensively than James was at that age. What do you think?
 
sounds like the visit went well. he's supposed to visit georgia and georgia tech still.

sounds like his parents were very impressed with how things are done at Texas, definitely seems like whatever concerns they may have had were eased.
 
I don't clearly recall that much of James's hs highlight videos, so I pulled up what I could find from Google to refresh my memory. There are Rivals Spotlight videos available. I see a pretty high similarity with Thornton having a better handle.

From what I now remember, I didn't think James showed any skills for handling the ball in traffic. The vids showed him on breaks, taking a feed or alley oop, or shooting a jumper, but nothing showing him taking the ball through the defense in the half court. On the other hand, Thornton's highlights show several instances of him splitting defenders in non-fast break situations to get to the basket, so by absence of similar instances of James doing so in the record, I have to give Thornton the nod there. He does seem more comfortable handling the ball. (Here I would note that James had a very high turnover rate compared to FG + A as a freshman --equivalent to Atchley that year, and Atchley was being crucified around here in those days.)

I would have been tempted to give the nod to James on elevation until I saw this vid from a game Thornton played as a junior.

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And I recall seeing highlights from the Georgia state quarterfinal game that year in which Thornton went for a triple double.

It's hard to imagine anyone matching James on the boards for his size, but Thornton seems to have a much better knack as a shot blocker. James finished his career with 163 in 4150 minutes. That was 5 less than Brad Buckman (very underrated in that capacity) had in about 2700 minutes. Undoubtedly, James dropped off the last couple of years as he moved his game away from the basket, but you kind of wonder at that number.

So I would expect Thornton to be a better ball handler and shot blocker, but the rebounding will remain to be seen. While he wouldn't be the ideal answer to getting a Al McGuire "aircraft carrier," but he would go a long way to assuaging some of my concerns regarding the interior over the next couple of years.
 
This really goes to show you that recruiting rankings can be a total joke and that quality guys do slip thru the cracks. It's all about summer AAU exposure and how well they do in a bunch of meaningless games. Thornton committed early to Clemson during his junior year and he was never evaluated again by the recruiting sites.

What what I can tell, Thornton is easily a Top 50 national prospect and his offer list agrees: Texas, Alabama, GT, Georgia, Clemson, Florida, etc.
 
You can have that offer list and not even be a top 100 recruit. None of the other schools are particularly prestigious, and Texas is recruiting him because they need another guy late, or they wouldn't have recruited him. Not saying he isn't "Texas good," god that's a stupid phrase, but we're recruiting him for a reason if that makes sense?
 
georgia tech is a quality offer. for the life of me, I can't understand what's happened to florida...especially so soon after winning 2 championships.
 
So we should have a decison by next Wed 5/19
when Spring signing period ends.
The right thing is to sign with Texas.
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I am glad he dropped Kentucky. If there's one thing I don't want to compete with, it's a collegiate signing bonus...
 
ACC rules would prevent Thornton from playing for UNC or Ga. Tech. this year, absent the conference granting a waiver.

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I guess that would make it a three team contest. At least this Bama fan isn't feeling good about their chances.

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ACC rule:
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Big Ten apparently completely forbids playing for a different Big Ten team without a waiver.
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Big 12 rules don't explicitly mention NLI releases but state if NCAA rules require a year in residence prior to participation after a transfer, then Big 12 will additionally insist upon forfeiture of a year of eligibility and waiver NCAA transfer regulations will not result in waiver of the year forfeiture.
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Of course, that rule doesn't apply to NLI, else Texas might not have had the pleasure of 4 years of Damion James.
 
NLI deadline tomorrow (May 19), but that doesn't mean he has to sign anywhere. Getting a unilateral promise of aid from the school is becoming more and more popular.

On the Ga Tech Rivals site, there is a new article purportedly saying Thornton liked his visit there, but I don't have access.

No word on Julian Washburn either at this time.

As an aside, Terrence Jones is still keeping UW in limbo.
 
Did Damion James already know that he wouldn't lose a year of eligibility when he was choosing between UT and A&M?
 
I have no idea what you are you are talking about re: James and A&M. I think it was a smartass comment, but if it is, you misinterpreted my comment.

When he was released from OU did he already know that he could choose another Big XII school and not have to lose a year of eligibility, or did he have to appeal and find out later? I'm not asking if he could get that year back at only A&M or only UT. I'm assuming he knew ahead of time.

Hopefully, it comes down to only UGA and UT for THorton and the good guys win. If he is set on playing the 3, though, we are pretty stacked there.
 
James did not have to appeal. The Big 12 does not prevent intraconference pick up of another member's NLI releases.
 
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