There have been a lot of smart, team-first players
over the years at Xavier. One of the best examples has to be Brian Thornton.
The big man transferred to Xavier after 2 years at Vanderbilt. He made a big
impact as a Junior, averaging 10.7 pts and 5.8 rebs per game. He was a model of
consistency his Senior year (2005-2006 season), going for 15.3 pts and 6.8 rebs
per night (both led the team) before rupturing his ankle near the end of the
season in an Atlantic 10 game against LaSalle. I remember how bummed I was that
Thornton was out. The Muskies rallied after Brian's injury and made the NCAA
Tournament. To jog your memory, they were (in my opinion) screwed over and
given a #14 seed, to play out west against Gonzaga, narrowly losing to the
whiny Adam Morrison and his squad.
Thornton has the record
for best field goal percentage over 2 years at Xavier, at 61.9%. His Senior
year, he shot 64%, 1st in A-10, top 10 in nation. Now that's efficient!
Maybe, most impressive, he was named ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA
Second Team Academic All-American, the first Xavier men's basketball
student-athlete to earn Academic All-American honors. He also earned Atlantic
10 Conference Student-Athlete of the Year and Academic All-Atlantic 10 both years at Xavier.
Brian, after being on Xavier's coaching
staff for 2 years and then Winthrop's for 2, is now Assistant Coach at Ball
State under former Xavier Asst Coach, James Whitford. Thanks for the good memories and best of luck to Brian and Ball State this year!
In : Muskie Recognition
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xavier pictures "brian thornton"
