Derryck Thornton
{{short description|American basketball player}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Derryck Thornton
| image = Derryck Thornton (2) (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Thornton with Boston College in February 2020
| number =
| position = Point guard
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 3
| weight_lbs = 195
| league = British Basketball League
| team = Leicester Riders
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1997|5|30}}
| birth_place = Woodland Hills, California
| nationality = American
| high_school =
| college =
- Duke (2015–2016)
- USC (2017–2019)
- Boston College (2019–2020)
| draft_year = 2020
| career_start = 2020
| years1 = 2020–2021
| team1 = Borac Čačak
| years2 = 2021-2022
| team2 = Kapfenberg Bulls
| team3 = Leicester Riders
|years3 = 2022-present
|highlights =
| medal_templates =
}}
Derryck Andre Thornton Jr. (born May 30, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Leicester Riders of the British Basketball league. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, the USC Trojans, and the Boston College Eagles.
High school career
After attending Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, Los Angeles as a freshman, Thornton transferred to Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada.{{cite web |last1=Keeley |first1=Laura |title=Duke's Derryck Thornton starting college basketball career in his own time |url=https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/duke-now/article44296788.html |website=The News & Observer |access-date=October 3, 2020 |date=November 11, 2015}} As a junior, he averaged 17 points and 6.2 assists per game, leading his team to a 29–3 record. He graduated one year early by taking courses online and at a local junior college.{{cite web |last1=King |first1=Jason |title=Duke's Derryck Thornton Finding Little Time for Growing Pains Under Coach K |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2594400-dukes-derryck-thornton-finding-little-time-for-growing-pains-under-coach-k |website=Bleacher Report |access-date=October 3, 2020 |date=December 1, 2015}}
=Recruiting=
On April 21, 2015, Thornton committed to play college basketball for Duke over offers from Arizona, Kentucky and Louisville.{{cite web |last1=O'Donnell |first1=Ricky |title=5-star point guard Derryck Thornton commits to Duke |url=https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2015/4/21/8462739/derryck-thornton-duke-recruiting |website=SB Nation |access-date=October 3, 2020 |date=April 21, 2015}} Coach Mike Krzyzewski convinced him to reclassify to the 2015 class to replace point guard Tyus Jones, who was leaving to play professionally. Thornton was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the highest ranked point guards in his class.
College career
As a freshman at Duke, Thornton made 20 starts but saw his playing time fluctuate despite being the only pure point guard on the team. He averaged 7.1 points and 2.5 assists per game.{{cite news |last1=Goodman |first1=Jeff |last2=Borzello |first2=Jeff |title=Freshman PG Derryck Thornton will transfer from Duke |url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15176468/freshman-pg-derryck-thornton-transferring-duke-blue-devils |access-date=October 5, 2020 |work=ESPN |date=April 10, 2016}} Following the season Thornton transferred to USC, choosing the Trojans over Kansas, Washington and Miami.{{cite magazine |title=Derryck Thornton transferring from Duke to USC |url=https://www.si.com/college/2016/06/17/derryck-thornton-usc-trojans-duke-transfer-point-guard |access-date=October 5, 2020 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=June 17, 2016}} After sitting out a season as a redshirt, he averaged 3.8 points and 1.2 assists per game off the bench. As a redshirt junior, Thornton started 27 games and averaged 7.7 points and 4.3 assists per game.{{cite news |last1=Meehan |first1=Jim |title=USC grad transfer Derryck Thornton has Gonzaga on five-school list |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/may/13/usc-grad-transfer-derryck-thornton-has-gonzaga-on-/ |access-date=October 5, 2020 |work=The Spokesman-Review |date=May 13, 2019}} He opted to transfer after the season as a graduate transfer and committed to Boston College after considering Gonzaga, Texas Tech, Auburn and St. John's.{{cite news |last1=Hewitt |first1=Steve |title=BC basketball gets big commitment from grad transfer Derryck Thornton |url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/06/17/bc-basketball-gets-big-commitment-from-grad-transfer-derryck-thornton/ |access-date=October 5, 2020 |work=Boston Herald |date=June 17, 2019}} Thornton averaged 12.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game in his final season at Boston College.{{cite web |title=Borac tabs rookie Derryck Thornton in his first year in pro basketball |url=https://www.eurobasket.com/Serbia/news/642491/Borac-tabs-rookie-Derryck-Thornton-in-his-first-year-in-pro-basketball |website=Eurobasket |access-date=October 5, 2020 |date=August 26, 2020}}
Professional career
On August 27, 2020, Thornton signed his first professional contract with Borac Čačak of the Basketball League of Serbia.{{cite news |last1=Skerletic |first1=Dario |title=KK Borac sign Derryck Thornton, Aleksa Novakovic |url=https://sportando.basketball/en/kk-borac-sign-derryck-thornton-aleksa-novakovic/ |website=Sportando |access-date=August 27, 2020 |date=August 27, 2020}} He averaged 4.9 points and 1.5 assists per game. On December 17, 2021, Thornton signed with the Kapfenberg Bulls of the Austrian Basketball Superliga.{{cite web |last1=Heinrich |first1=Stefan |title=Kapfenberg inks Derryck Thornton, ex Borac CA |url=https://www.eurobasket.com/Serbia/news/722114/Kapfenberg-inks-Derryck-Thornton,-ex-Borac-CA |website=Eurobasket |access-date=December 17, 2021 |date=December 17, 2021}}
Career statistics
{{NBA player statistics legend}}
=College=
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16
| style="text-align:left;"| Duke
| 36 || 20 || 26.0 || .390 || .325 || .690 || 1.8 || 2.5 || .8 || .2 || 7.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17
| style="text-align:left;"| USC
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="11"| File:Redshirt.svg Redshirt
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18
| style="text-align:left;"| USC
| 25 || 1 || 14.2 || .363 || .318 || .852 || 1.4 || 1.2 || .7 || .2 || 3.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19
| style="text-align:left;"| USC
| 32 || 27 || 27.7 || .382 || .286 || .660 || 2.8 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .1 || 7.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20
| style="text-align:left;"| Boston College
| 29 || 29 || 31.4 || .376 || .263 || .786 || 2.8 || 3.4 || 1.1 || .2 || 12.7
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 122 || 77 || 25.3 || .380 || .290 || .744 || 2.2 || 2.9 || 1.0 || .2 || 7.9
{{S-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://bceagles.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/derryck-thornton/11341 Boston College Eagles bio]
- [https://usctrojans.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/derryck-thornton/8797 USC Trojans bio]
- [https://www.nmnathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=210295015&DB_OEM_ID=4200 Duke Blue Devils bio]{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150907035100/http://www.usab.com/basketball/players/mens/t/thornton-derryck.aspx USA Basketball bio]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Derryck}}
Category:African-American baseball players
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Serbia
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:Basketball people from California
Category:Boston College Eagles men's basketball players
Category:Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players
Category:KK Borac Čačak players
Category:People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
Category:USC Trojans men's basketball players