AJC’s Mr. Basketball gets offers from Kentucky, Florida, Texas, Auburn, Michigan, Georgia Tech, UGA, Alabama, more

Kentucky's John Calipari is charging fast and furiously after the AJC's Mr. Georgia Basketball (AP)

*Memphis is latest to offer (click here)

In the short span of seven days, the AJC’s Mr. Georgia Basketball has turned into one of the hottest names in college basketball.

Georgia Tech, UGA, and Alabama have offered scholarships to Westlake High’s Marcus Thornton, who was officially granted a release from his letter-of-intent with Clemson last Friday.

Kentucky coach John Calipari has expressed heavy interest in Thornton, along with representatives from Texas and Florida. There is also speculation that Tennessee, Michigan, LSU and Auburn, among others, will also join the recruiting race. (Note: See Monday night’s updated list at the bottom).

“We’re very surprised by all the attention,” said Thornton’s father, Billy. “People told us to anticipate it, but you don’t really know what is going to happen. It has been very overwhelming, and we feel very blessed.”

The 6-foot-7 Thornton had a much lower profile when he committed to Clemson before his junior season, and then signed with the Tigers over Wake Forest and Maryland last November.

Will Hewitt take advantage of second chance? (AJC)

Thornton’s Q rating went off the charts 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. Also, Thornton is very attractive to scouts as an honor student with a 3.7 GPA.

Here are tidbits from the conversations between a few colleges and Thornton’s family:

• Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt: “One of the things (Hewitt) was saying was how they missed out on Marcus early on. He was apologetic about it. He said by the time he knew about him in the early time frame, Clemson had scooped up Marcus. (Hewitt) was commendable to Clemson, about how they had indentified him early. He talked about Georgia Tech’s needs with Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors (declaring for the NBA Draft) and how there were some big opportunities there for Marcus.”
• Georgia’s Mark Fox: “He was a very personable individual. He almost seems like a Southerner. To me, he seems like a natural fit to Georgia. When you call his cell phone, his ringback tone is the song “Georgia On My Mind.” That was very touching. Georgia had the advantage seeing Marcus a lot on the AAU circuit a lot because they were following Norcross High’s Jeremy Lamb (signed with UConn). They had the chance to observe Marcus, and were relenting in the fact that they never got to recruit him. This became a new opportunity for Georgia, as Marcus became available again.”
• Kentucky’s Calipari: “He is a very impressive. He talked to us about what has transpired at Kentucky, and that he has eight people leaving (five underclassmen declaring for the NBA Draft, and three graduating seniors). He has some definite personnel needs. (Calipari) said he has to be able to recruit people who can hit the floor right away. He was using the term ‘He can’t hide them (any incoming recruits)’ because anyone that comes there is going to have to be a contributor. But he has a lot of people to choose from, I’m sure.”

Thornton has had a good relationship with Alabama’s Anthony Grant since his coaching days at Virginia Commonwealth. He is also waiting to see who will be Clemson’s next coach. Thornton only requested his release after Clemson’s Oliver Purnell resigned to take Depaul’s head coaching job last week. Purnell was a major reason why Thornton picked the Tigers.

Next to offer? (AJC file)

“Marcus is intrigued by a lot of big-time coaches expressing interest,” his father said. “He had his mind absolutely set on Clemson, and he’s still a little disappointed that (Purnell) left. Not to say he won’t end up going to Clemson, because they are very much in consideration.

 Loading ...

“Right now, the (recruiting process) is like being a kid in a candy store. By the same token, we’re ready to move forward with everything so Marcus can begin preparing for the next stage of his life.”

What’s next for Thornton? He will come up with a list of his top schools by the end of the week, and then set up either recruiting trips or in-house visits during the next NCAA contact period, which is April 16-21.

Click here to go to video of Thornton.

Updated at 11 p.m. Monday: As expected, the colleges have been offering scholarships at a dizzying pace on Monday. Thornton’s current offer sheet consists of Kentucky, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Auburn, UTEP, along with the other four mentioned earlier — Georgia Tech, UGA, Alabama, and Clemson. Thornton is anticipating conversations with Memphis and Tennessee on Tuesday.

Marcus has already agreed to accept in-home visits with Kentucky, Georgia Tech, and UGA in two weeks, and still deciding among other schools.

Check back with the AJC for more updates.