Chicago will be Marcus Thornton’s Kind of Town as the William & Mary men’s basketball senior was selected to take part in the 2015 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft Combine on Wednesday. The event is set for May 12-17 in Chicago with the on-court evaluations on Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 15.
During the Draft Combine, players will undergo full medical examinations including physicals and interviews. They also take part in various physical fitness tests, on court and shooting drills as well as five-on-five scrimmages in front of NBA coaches, general managers, and scouts. Portions of the Combine will be televised on ESPN2 on May 14 and 15 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. NBATV will broadcast a Draft Combine Special on Thursday, May 14, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The 2015 NBA Draft is slated for Thursday, June 25, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Thornton became W&M’s all-time leading scorer and finished his career with 2,178 points, which ranks seventh in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) history. As a senior in 2014-15, the Upper Marlboro, Md., native was named Associated Press honorable mention All-American and garnered the first CAA Player of the Year honor in program history. Thornton was the first Tribe player since 2004 to average 20 points per game, while knocking down a school-record 102 3-pointers, the sixth 100-plus 3-point field goal season in CAA history. He ranked 17th nationally in scoring and 16th in 3-pointers made.
Along with being W&M’s career scoring leader, Thornton established school marks for 3-pointers made (325), games played (127), minutes played (4,328), minutes per game (34.1) and 3-pointers per game (2.55). He is one of only five players in program history with 1,000 career points and 300 career assists. Thornton became the only W&M player in program history to be named First Team NABC All-District on three occasions. A three-time All-CAA choice, he was a first-team selection each of the last two years. Also during 2014-15, Thornton was named a finalist for the Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year award and the Jerry West Division I Shooting Guard of the Year, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Thornton led the Tribe to back-to-back 20-win seasons in the final two years of his career, a first at W&M since 1951. He also captained W&M to back-to-back CAA Championship Game appearances in 2014 and 2015. The Tribe won the program’s first CAA regular season title in 17 years, was the No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament for the first time in program history and played in the National Invitation Tournament for the third time during Thornton’s senior campaign.
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