AJC’s Mr. Georgia Basketball granted Clemson release, interested in Georgia Tech and UGA (Updated at 9:30 p.m. Friday)
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UPDATED: Thornton processed the paperwork and was granted his release from Clemson on Friday.
Georgia Tech and UGA are among the schools at the top of the wishlist for the AJC’s Mr. Georgia Basketball, Westlake’s Marcus Thornton, who officially requested his release from his Clemson letter-of-intent on Thursday.
The 6-foot-7 Thornton decided to re-open his recruiting after Clemson’s Oliver Purnell left to the take the head coaching job at DePaul, according to his father.
Would Thornton be interested in Georgia Tech and UGA? “Absolutely, and for all the obvious reasons,” Billy Thornton told the AJC.
“It’s really early because we haven’t had the chance to talk to either of them personally. Georgia Tech is here in the ACC, and they always seem to have a lot of talent there. Georgia is an up-and-coming program. They seem to have some (player) needs.”
Thornton projects to be one of the country’s hottest free agents after a monster senior season. He averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds while leading Westlake to the state championship game in Georgia’s largest classification. Thornton is an extremely attractive prospect because, along with his basketball accomplishments, he is an honor student with a 3.7 GPA.
Loading ...Georgia Tech and UGA have revealed through third parties that they are heavily interested in Thornton, if he is granted a release. The elder Thornton confirmed to the AJC that Clemson officials have agreed to the release, which is almost always a mere formality when a coaching change has occurred before a recruit has enrolled.
“(Clemson) has indicated to me that they will grant the release, and that they are excited about the opportunity to continue recruiting Marcus,” the elder Thornton said. “They said Marcus is part of any conversation that they are having with coaching candidates.”
“Clemson has been wonderful to deal with, and they are really understanding about the situation. I can’t say enough good things about them, and we look forward to talking to Clemson more after they name a new coach.”
Neither Georgia Tech nor UGA had offered Thornton when he signed with Clemson in November’s’ early period. He signed with Clemson over Wake Forest and Maryland. He also had offers from Virginia Tech and Xavier, among others.
Other than Georgia Tech and UGA, who else would Thornton be interested in? “I’m not sure, and I think it’s too early to put anything out there,” the elder Thornton said.
WWMGBD = What Will Mr. Georgia Basketball Do? (AJC file)
The rumor mill is burning up with new schools that are willing to offer immediate scholarships to Thornton after the release paperwork is completed. After Georgia Tech and UGA, the other parties reportedly include Kentucky, Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, Wake Forest, South Carolina, LSU, Florida and DePaul.
Here is Thursday’s statement from the Thornton family:
Marcus has asked Clemson University for a release … due to the recent resignation of head coach Oliver Purnell.
With the spring ’signing period’ starting next week, our family is concerned that Marcus could be left with very few options if Clemson fails to identify a new head coach in a timely fashion. We fear that their search has been further complicated by an additional head coaching position becoming available in the ACC. Additionally, there is always the risk that Clemson’s incoming coach may not look upon an existing recruit favorably versus recruits he may be bringing with him from previous relationships.
Without a release from this letter of intent, our family is unable to identify and evaluate contingent options in case Clemson is unable to appoint a new coach in a timely fashion who is excited to have Marcus as a part of his program. We do not believe that Clemson will act punitively by denying his request, but anticipate they will grant Marcus a release given that the events of the past few days were not of his making.
Marcus is still very partial to Clemson and the Tigers remain at the top of his list. We are hoping that Clemson will continue to vigorously recruit Marcus once the new coach is identified or the search list is shortened. Our family has developed great relationships with interim head coach Ron Bradley and his remaining staff over the past two years. Marcus has developed significant relationships with many of the players as well, some that have pre-dated their tenure at Clemson. We love the fans at Littlejohn and hope that they will continue to want Marcus as a part of their Clemson family – The Thorntons.
What advice would you give to Marcus? Please post below. NOTE: The NCAA’s late signing period ends on May 19.
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110 comments Add your comment
» SEC links: Ogilvy to enter draft; Rivers de-commits John Clay’s Sidelines
April 9th, 2010
7:00 am
[...] Michael Carvell of the AJC reports that Georgia could be back in hunt for state’s Mr. Basketball. [...]
Steven
April 9th, 2010
7:03 am
Michael – how many spots does UGA have left open for this upcoming class? Haven’t we signed 3 already, with an outstanding offer to that kid from LA? Thought I remember hearing we could only bring in 4 recruits this year….
jackyldo
April 9th, 2010
7:19 am
Did Tech not lose to Georgia this past season ?
I think in Tech’s Freshman class they had the # 1 and # 5 ranked player Nationally.. How did that recruiting class work out. ?
Keep an eye on Wake as well – coach out 4 4 stars including 6 11 Center Carson Derosiers “available”
dap01
April 9th, 2010
8:02 am
Sounds like a good young man with great options. Stay in state. (UGA has something special happening in Athens, great coach)
dap01
April 9th, 2010
8:02 am
Enter your comments here
STINGER94
April 9th, 2010
8:08 am
UGA HAS ADVANTAGE? HE CHOSE AN ACC SCHOOL CORRECT? I’D PUT MY MONEY ON THIS KID GOES TO TECH. FAVORS AND LAWAL ARE GONE, AND TECH HAD THE 3RD BEST RECRUITING CLASS IN THE NATION LAST YEAR. SORRY UGA FANS, THIS IS WRITTEN ALL OVER THE WALL. WHICH CONFERENCE JUST WON A NATIONAL TITLE AGAIN? ACC..ACC
NO DOUBT WHICH PROGRAM HAS MORE TALENT ON THE ROSTER, AND WHERE WAS UGA IN THE FIELD OF 64? THAT’S RIGHT, NOWHERE!!! I MISSED WHAT CHANNEL UGA PLAYED FOR THERE CONFERENCE TITLE ON LIKE TECH DID? THATS RIGHT, THEY DIDN’T COME CLOSE.
THWG
RAMBLE ON!!!
April 9th, 2010
8:08 am
If he hates practicing free throws, he’ll come to GT.
Hmmmm
April 9th, 2010
8:19 am
Pope UGA XXIII,
Have you ever watched a UGA Basketball Game????
Pope is a joke
April 9th, 2010
8:29 am
sec good? lol
if the acc is good in football, then the sec is good in bball.
nba-uga? lol. yeah that uga program is just spitting out guys playing in the nba. get a clue moron. if he wants the nba you go to the acc or kentucky or one of the big name schools. not ugag.
wes
April 9th, 2010
8:41 am
LOL @ uga basketball
UGAXXX
April 9th, 2010
8:44 am
Unfortunately, he’d be stupid not to go to Kentucky. While I’m a UGA fan, Fox still has to improve the program before landing a prospect like Thornton. GT is a joke. Calipari, Fox, or Hewitt???? Come on, where would you send your son who has dreams of playing in the NBA (and making a ton of money, by the way)? No brainer for a guy with a 3.7 g.p.a.
F-105 Thunderchief
April 9th, 2010
8:46 am
I wonder if the fact Ga. Tech’s fan base has a big portion who hate Hewitt will affect recruiting.
notajacketordawg
April 9th, 2010
9:10 am
Clemson will release Thorton with the stipulation he does not sign with another ACC team.
GT man
April 9th, 2010
9:14 am
If you’re a one and done and have a lot of tattoos then you’ll probably come to GT and let Blewitt mess you up.
SEC links: Ogilvy to enter draft; Rivers de-commits « MrSEC.com
April 9th, 2010
9:21 am
[...] Michael Carvell of the AJC reports that Georgia could be back in hunt for state’s Mr. Basketball. [...]
thwg
April 9th, 2010
9:22 am
Marcus, you seem like a wonderful kid. If you want to be the best come play in the best conference in America – ACC – back to back national champions – enough said. Why go play for UGA in a half empty arena every night in a conference that only uses basketball as something to do between football seasons.
Sugar Hill Dawg
April 9th, 2010
9:23 am
If this kid’s a typical HS BB jock, he’ll never sniff the degree about which y’all are trashing each other, Given the kid’s HS GPA (I’ve spent 35 years in public and private high school school classrooms, so I think I have some knowledge of the situation), it appears he’s serious enough of a student to care about the degree programs available. If he’s interested in science/mathematics, then Tech’s a no brainer for him. (Excellent school, ACC, etc.) Of course, the chances of being mugged/shot increase the closer one gets to the connector, but that’s a family decision. (Both of my boys are at Auburn – that, along with a desire to actually enjoy a college town experience, was a factor.) If he’s interested in anything else, seems to me UGA’s the place. (A much broader curriculum from which to explore, beautiful women, fantastic college town, close enough to home for the family to attend games, far enough away to have a life, etc. The only down side – the SEC’s BB rep not as strong as the ACC.) I wish the young man luck in whatever decision he makes. (He may want to avoid stepping on basketball’s during pre-game.)
thwg
April 9th, 2010
9:28 am
Hey UGAXXX, ever heard of Chris Bosh, Javaris Crittenton, Thadeus Young, Jarret Jack? No? How about John Salley, Mark Price, Travis Best, Kenny Anderson, Matt Harpring? Kentucky doesn’t have anything on GT when it comes to putting guys in the NBA. How about 6 out of the last 10 ACC rookies of the year? Besides, Calipari will have KY on probation within the next 2 years anyway. Everyone knows he runs a filthy program everywhere he’s been. As mad as I get at Hewitt sometimes, I’ve never seen him get out coached as badly as Calipari did agains WV – he couldn’t even get to the final four with that miracle recruiting class he had. Calipari is way overrated. I could have coached KY to the Sweet 16 with my eyes closed.
thwg
April 9th, 2010
9:32 am
Super Hill Dawg – you’re talking about majors? Seriously? You make it sound like it matters. He’s a basketball player, and a very smart one at that. But he needs to in a quality environment where he can play against the best (including working out with the Hawks) – only one place and that’s GT. UGA would be a huge waste of his talent – no TV coverage, no fans who care, littel media coverage. He’s not that stupid.
GT BABY
April 9th, 2010
9:32 am
Michael, do you know if Thornton wore #2 at Westlake? If so, I saw him beat Central Gwinnett in the final four all by himself. The kid looks like he’s 32.
haney
April 9th, 2010
9:32 am
Michael-
Considering Mark Fox didn’t take the UGA job until April of last year, considering this kid signed in November of last year, how is it that UGA blew it the first time with this kid. Mark Fox only signed one kid last year, a very LATE addition in Vincent Williams. Mayfield, who has since left the program, was committed before Fox took over. Daniel Miller also signed early but asked for his release when Fox took over, landing at GT. What has really hampered Coach Fox in recruiting this year-although he has picked up steam in the spring recruiting period-is that coaches build up relationships with these kids EARLY in the game and the early signing period allows a kid to get his decision over before his senior season even starts. SO, a kid takes an offer from a school that he likes but then blows up his senior season and could have potentially had 20 more offers if he had waited or if there are coaching changes involved. I can see where you could say GT blew it by not offering him because Hewitt has been well established in the ATL for years now in both tenure and recruiting relationships and still didn’t offer this kid. Likewise, Oliver Purnell at Clem has long established a strong Ga recruiting base.
I would think this kid would take a hard look at UGA, with 5 kids leaving UK, Tyus leaving UF, Chism leaving UT, Beal leaving Vandy, UGA has a legit shot to compete in the SECE next season. Fox is slowly building the program in Athens and has proven he can win with less talent. Watch out when he gets more talent.
thwg
April 9th, 2010
9:35 am
Haney – who cares about competing in the SEC? What exactly does that mean? Not much. If he’s going to be the best he needs to come play against the best and that’s in the ACC. Back to back NChampions. Calipari has never been able to make a player better. His entire career he has relied on paying, excuse me, recruiting talent that can play on it’s own.
Coach D
April 9th, 2010
9:36 am
Thornton can’g go to Tech because he can shoot free throws… : )
thwg
April 9th, 2010
9:38 am
Marcus – give Derek a call and get him to stay and you guys play together. You 2, with super sophs Rice and Oliver with a seasoned Shumpert and Daniel Miller and this new super Freshman coming in – could be fun.
JS
April 9th, 2010
9:55 am
UGA basketball – Under .500 playing in a weak conference, No NCAA bid and NO NIT bid! HaHa
THWG!!!
April 9th, 2010
10:03 am
Since when does finishing last in the SEC make you an up and coming program?!?! UGA fans are as delusional as much as you are a terrible basketball program!! I would be afraid that stegman coliseum would collapse on top of me along with your ducks unlimited following!!
gochicago
April 9th, 2010
10:17 am
Enter your comments here – Would love to see Marcus think about coming to DePaul. The Lincoln Park campus in Chicago is one of the nicest parts of the entire Chicago area, and for those of you who have never been to Chicago the city is fantastic. DePaul is a fabulous academic school and the once proud basketball program will arrise again.
GT3O
April 9th, 2010
10:29 am
He obviously wants to come play in the ACC and I can’t blame him. ACC won it again this year!
ACC! ACC! ACC! He’s going to be a Jacket!
David
April 9th, 2010
10:54 am
I like to see him go to UGA. I believe Mark Fox is going to be a great coach if he can get talent like players from this state to stay in state and go to UGA. All, he needs is players!!! Last year, I saw two players on this team that can play college basketball, the rest of the team was average to below average players that was the reason they lose so many games (17). Look at the positive, Marcus will play right away, no question about that and he will be ready to leave for the NBA early as well especially if they can get into the NCAA next year.
Nick
April 9th, 2010
11:19 am
He won’t go to Georgia Tech. Why? Becuase he’d have to sit out a year.
He signed a letter of intent with Clemson. Even if Clemson releases him from his LOI, the ACC has a rule about in-conference transfers (yeah, I know this is not technically a transfer) which would require him to be at Georgia Tech for two semesters before being eligible to play for them.
If you don’t believe this, see Gus Gilchrist and his VA Tech-to-Maryland “transfer”.
Michael Carvell
April 9th, 2010
11:53 am
Nick. Good point. But yes, there is a big difference between a player who has been enrolled at a college and then requests a release VS a recruit who has only signed a letter-of-intent. You would think that Clemson would grant an “unconditional” release because doing anything otherwise might hurt its chances of signing Thornton again.
Joe
April 9th, 2010
11:55 am
He’ll end up at Georgia Tech.
Dawg Bballer
April 9th, 2010
11:56 am
Marcus comes from a family that puts a priority on education. His father is Dr. Thornton. I believe PHD, not MD. So education is important to them.
Katbluefan
April 9th, 2010
12:05 pm
Mr. Thornton, Follow Kenny “Sky”Walker & Jeff Shepherd to the Bluegrass State and become a legand. Play for a winning program and coach and get prepared for the NBA if so desired. We would love to have you in the Big Blue. Go Wildcats
Katbluefan
April 9th, 2010
12:25 pm
THWG, As I read your comments on hear about Coach Cal and KY, You must work for the NCAA because you know so much about Cal & KY. The only thing I ask of you is can you prove in writing all the things you have said about Cal? Or are like so many who love to tell the hearsay with no proof. Before you tell more lies, you need to check the NCAA records and see what violations Coach Cal has charged against him. Why don’t you speak about Roy williams of UNC who put Kansas on probation and then ran off to unc ? Is it just your hate for Cal & KY the reason you rundown them ? By the way, what is your favorite team ?
JxnDawg
April 9th, 2010
12:29 pm
Mark Fox sent 5 players to the NBA while at Nevada in much less time than Hewitt’s been at Tech….players who weren’t even offered scholarships to other schools. But then again, Tech is a fine school. Just make sure that scholarship includes a bulletproof vest.
Les W. Moore
April 9th, 2010
12:32 pm
Michael, do you know if he has passed the SAT test? If so, then why would he bother with the Calipari program currently being well-fed and groomed at the NBA’s minor-league team in Kentcuky?
Sugar Hill Dawg
April 9th, 2010
12:33 pm
DePaul and Chicago – great school, fantastic town, incredibly cold about five months a year. (The last time I was there was January 2002 – I thought my ears would break off. Also, I had to keep one eye on the sidewalk and the other about 40 floors up, looking for falling ice. Chicago’s a great city, but not for Southerners!!! Athens usually is lovely in January!
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April 9th, 2010
12:55 pm
[...] * BREAKING NEWS: AJC’s Mr. Georgia Basketball asks for Clemson release, expresses interest in U… [...]
Ben
April 9th, 2010
12:57 pm
Marcus – stick with the Tigers. Trevor Booker is gone and you can come in and be an immediate starter and impact player. We have a great nucleus of players coming back and should be contending for an ACC title. Clemson will get a good coach; they have too much invested in the program to let it fall. I don’t blame you for requesting the release, but hopefully once the smoke clears, you’ll commit to the Tigers again. We need you.
Techie
April 9th, 2010
1:33 pm
Sure, Happy Dawg. I think the kid will probably end up at Kentucky. I think all of my fellow Tech fans who are so openly disgruntled with CPH are making it harder to recruit southeastern talent to our program. I too have been disappointed with our performance, but that didn’t start with CPH. I was at Tech when we had the Triple Threat take us to the Final Four, and talented kids have been using Tech as a springboard to the NBA ever since Kenny Anderson left early. I cannot think of any other program that has suffered more from kids leaving early than Tech.
Doctor J
April 9th, 2010
2:14 pm
THWG – at present UK has 10 players in the NBA, Georgia Tech has 8. UK is about to dump 4 or 5 more into the pool, GT might add one or two. Kentucky has had 73 players in the NBA over the years, Georgia Tech has 33. Thus it’s not quite right to say that Kentucky has nothing over Georgia Tech in getting players into the pros. And if Calipari is known to run a filthy program everywhere he goes (actually I think the opposite is true), then of course you’ll have plenty of evidence to support it. Oh, you don’t? OK, figures… And of course you could have coached the Cats to the Sweet 16 – but you could never have recruited such quality in the first place, so why speculate?
haney
April 9th, 2010
2:16 pm
THWG-Well, same reason why some young men want to play football in the ACC?? If he wants to play for a coach that can get the most out of his ability, I think he comes to Athens. If he wants to play for a coach that has a player of the level of Favors but yet waits until the ACC tourney to really feed him the rock, he might consider GT. Honestly, I can’t imagine that Clemson would grant his release to play for another ACC school. They might say you are released but put the ACC restriction on him.
Nick
April 9th, 2010
4:21 pm
Sorry, guys, it doesn’t matter if he enrolled or not at the school, nor does it matter if Clemson grants a complete and unconditional release. The ACC has a very strict intra-conference transfer policy. Once he signed the LOI with Clemson, he cannot go to another ACC school without having to sit out a year at that school (plus lose a year of eligibility).
It’s right here in the last paragraph of this document: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/acc/genrel/auto_pdf/ACCEligibilityRules.pdf (it says “Revised: April 2007″ but was accurate through at least the middle of last year)
It’s highly unlikely he’d choose Georgia Tech.
KevinM
April 9th, 2010
5:02 pm
If you want to be part of a major basketball program young man, there shouldn’t be much to be concerned about. You go to the top of the SEC and you get play on the national stage every game.
To top that off, should you decide to go to the NBA after one season, you still get to start your only college season in Maui.
Now that is plenty of incentive to get me to the Bluegrass state to hone my skills. You play against many of the best players in practice.
How much more prepared for the next level can you get?
We have 9 slots open, according to Coach. Should you take on this temptation, you will be well perpared for any level of competition after one year.
Paul in RDU
April 9th, 2010
5:29 pm
JxnDawg @12:29 – Where does your information on Fox putting players in the NBA come from? There are 0 current NBA players from University of Nevada
Dee
April 9th, 2010
6:26 pm
Paul RDU where does your info come from. Javale mcgee, Ramon sessions, nick fazekes and kirk snyder are a few of the players fox help get to the NBA
GT GRAD
April 9th, 2010
8:11 pm
GT is the place to be………………Lawal & Favors are off to the NBA, so it is a perfect time to slide into the starting line-up at GT and become a superstar!
I hope to see Marcus playing for GT next season!!
Paul in RDU
April 9th, 2010
10:46 pm
Dee – Tell me which teams those guys are playing for now?
Hewitt has a bunch of former players active in the NBA at the moment – Fox has ZERO.
Dee
April 9th, 2010
10:49 pm
Session plays for Minnesota and Mcgee plays for Washington. The other two suck but thats not fox’s fault he doesnt control how good theyll be in the nba. Hewitts players were good enough without him to go the NBA.