AJC’s Mr. Basketball finishes meeting Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt and other college head coaches, will begin trimming list next week
Thornton: R&R this weekend in Sunshine State, then time to narrow down schools (AJC photo)
What’s the latest with the recruiting of the AJC’s Mr. Basketball?
Westlake’s Marcus Thornton, who is one of college basketball top free agents, has finished the in-home visits with all seven of his finalists — Kentucky, Texas, Alabama, UGA, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Michigan. On Thursday, Thornton left for Florida for a mini-spring break. He will return late Sunday night and begin narrowing down his schools on Monday, his father confirmed to the AJC on Thursday night.
“We wanted to give Marcus some time to think about everything,” Billy Thornton said. “We’re going to look over things next week. We don’t have any pending short list, and (the rapid process of recruiting) may not allow us to specify a short list in advance.”
UGA coach Mark Fox was the first college head coach to meet with Thornton in person during the recent NCAA contact period, while Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt was the last on Wednesday. How did it go with Hewitt?
“It went very well, just like with the rest of the coaches,” the elder Thornton said. “Coach Hewitt had a lot of good things to say. We were impressed, as we have been with everyone else. We’re honored that Georgia Tech wants Marcus.”
What’s next on Thornton’s agenda? He will try to narrow down his list of schools next week, and then take recruiting trips to his finalists. Due to Thornton’s school activities, including his senior prom and AP exams, he will likely begin visiting schools at the beginning of May. All the trips are likely be one-day visits, due to time constraints.
What about a final decision? The target date is around the third week of May.
Calipari: Do not underestimate me. Ever. (AP)
Thornton wants to pick a school in time to enroll for summer school classes. Education is paramount with Thornton. Both of his parents hold graduate degrees, while Thornton has a 3.7 GPA and is taking AP classes for college credit.
The 6-foot-7 power forward was granted a release from his letter-of-intent from Clemson a couple of weeks ago, after Oliver Purnell abruptly left the Tigers to take the head coaching job with the DePaul. Thornton had a monster senior season, averaging 24 points and 12 rebounds while leading Westlake to the state championship game in Georgia’s largest classification.
Thornton politely declined to reveal any favorites, saying the family needed to discuss the situation next week. In your opinion, which school leads the sweepstakes for the AJC’s Mr. Basketball?
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65 comments Add your comment
.
April 23rd, 2010
9:00 pm
I wouldn’t let my dog play for hewitt.
Big Blue News » Blog Archiv » Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog’s Article Links
April 23rd, 2010
10:02 pm
[...] 2010 recruit Marcus Thornton will begin visiting schools at the beginning of May and make a decision around the third week of May [...]
Billy O
April 23rd, 2010
10:15 pm
The SEC was the only conference that had 2 teams is the Elite Eight.
Bleedkyblue
April 23rd, 2010
10:15 pm
Marcus………Make up your own mind as to where you want to go play basketball and get an education. If you plan on staying 1yr or 4yrs, that is up to you. Go to Ga.T, fans hate Hewett. Go to UGA, the #1 party school, Go to Clemson, with a new coach & who knows what. Go to Texas who ranked #1 @ start of the season and then fell all to pcs or Mich where your family will never get to see you play. So I guess the best place is UK where if you want to get ready for the NBA, Coach Cal can help you do that or if you want to stay four years the BBN will be very happy for that. The decision is yours and as a UK fan I hope you come and enjoy the Wildcat venture.
M-Black10
April 23rd, 2010
10:33 pm
Im an all the way UGA fan and I would love to see Thornton in red and black, but honsetly i’m glad to see that this seems to be a young man who cares about getting an education too. If Mark Fox can’t reel him in I hope he stays in state and gets a degree from a Georgia instituition and good luck to Mr Thornton in basketball and his career.
RaleighDawg
April 24th, 2010
12:06 am
ESPN announced their 2010 RISE All-American first team fields consisting of eighteen of the nation’s very best seniors and two special juniors. The format for the team calls for it to be selected after every player finishes his seasons, which makes ESPN RISE honors more reflective of players who led teams to state championships. The teams also are chosen after nearly every all-state team around the country has been released. Two players from the state of Georgia were selected first team: Marcus Thornton and Ryan Harrow. Props to both young men for this outstanding honor.
Ron
April 24th, 2010
1:24 pm
bleeding in Kentucky- kind of silly for you to think the young man is going to read your blog and, if for some will hair he, did listen to you. your program finally got what it wanted- a fraud of a coach that should have long ago been barred from the ncaa but can buy his way into recruits-
do you remember shawn kemp and fedx- now that was a one two combo to remember- at least you don’t have Pitino anymore who is now more interested in throwing down at local pizzerias-
to Mister Billy
April 24th, 2010
7:34 pm
The ACC is the only one that WON the dance!
come on
April 24th, 2010
10:34 pm
hey dawg fans a u we r talking bball here not football. sec is sometimes UK well florida was good that time and nobody else. acc 5 bball NC in last 10 yrs. so he will go to gt or back to clemson. face it the acc is where players go to play basketball. o and big blue fans your best team in like 12 years and they go out early, and they r all gone. good luck getting a new team
come on
April 24th, 2010
10:40 pm
o and dawg fans don’t even think about saying your program gets people into the nba. who was even the last player taken in the second round. i will bet it was like 8 or 9 years ago
rod
April 25th, 2010
5:52 pm
Yea, keep warning recruits about coming to Ky. We all know these guys are not interested in getting to the NBA and the money that goes with it. They practice bball 24 seven 365 becuase they want to get a business degree and be an assistant manager at Wal-mart someday. Duke,UNC,uConn,Florida,Louisville,etc,etc,etc, all their fans get on these sites and say the same thing. Boo-Hoo!
BoogieMan
April 25th, 2010
8:04 pm
everybody is forgetting about texas!
damian james is gone so marcus can get that starting postion!
and they are ALWAYS top contenders in the Big 12
Great coaching and Great school!
sounds just as good as any other offers!
king louie
April 26th, 2010
12:34 am
If the NBA hadn’t required players to at least play one year in college, KY wouldn’t be sending anybody to the NBA this year because they would’ve gone straight from high school. I hate to see what Senior Night is going to look like three years from now in Lexington. Maybe the seniors in the student body can take the floor instead in honor of glory years past.
I hope Marcus simply follows his heart and trusts his instincts. He sounds like a good soul blessed with many talents. A college degree with an opportunity to further develop and hone his exceptional basketball skills is a great recipe for success.
Good luck, Marcus.
Kentucky Basketball: Recruiting and Reloading « MrSEC.com
April 26th, 2010
12:21 pm
[...] Thornton (F) — Plans to visit schools starting in [...]
UGA fans are so .....
April 28th, 2010
9:40 pm
To the genius talking about UGA winning @ Rupp 4 or 5 times-Yea in about 70 tries. UK 90 UGA 15. Uga wins versus Ky in basketball about like Ky wins against Uga in football.