Cornelius Allen "Corny" Thompson (born February 5, 1960) is a retired American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player. He was a 6'8" (203 cm) 225 lb (102 kg)
power forward
The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...
who occasionally also played the
center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
position. Thomson was a member of the
Joventut Badalona
Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two teams ...
team that reached a
EuroLeague final in 1992, and lifted the trophy in 1994.
Early life
Corny started playing basketball because people suggested that he play because he was tall. He was about 6'5" before he got to High School. He wasn't serious about it until Middle School. From then on, every year, Corny progressed, went to camp and became a better player.
High school
Corny attended
Middletown High School in
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...
. In his freshman season, Corny was too good for the freshman team so he was promoted up to the Varsity team. The Varsity coach was Tom Labella. The team lost 5 or 6 games that year. In his sophomore through senior seasons the team won 76 games in a row. That record has still not been broken. The team won three State Championships and was ranked in the top 25 basketball teams in the country. Corny was the captain in the 1976, 1977, 1978 seasons (sophomore-senior). Corny still holds many records at Middletown High School.
College career
North Carolina, Virginia, Princeton and UConn were the schools Corny narrowed his decision down to. Corny liked the idea of staying close to home and he thought there would be advantages to being close to home. At Connecticut he was coached by
Dom Perno. In his freshman season Corny started in every game, and the Huskies made the NCAA Tournament. Corny led the team in scoring all four years at UConn and finished with 1,810 points, and 1,017 rebounds. Corny graduated in 1982 with a degree in Business
Professional career
Thompson was the 4th pick in the third round (50th overall) of the
1982 NBA draft by the
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...
and played 44 games with them in the
1982–83 season, averaging 2.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. During the summer prior to his second year with the Mavericks, he suffered a knee injury, after which he was released from the team. Corny worked hard to get healthy and played basketball in Italy for
Pallacanestro Varese
Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...
in the
Italian league
The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...
for six years. It is when he played in the Spanish
ACB League
The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...
for a great
Joventut Badalona
Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two teams ...
team between 1990 and 1994 that he reached his full potential though, making it to the
FIBA European League final in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
and winning the title in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
.Tompson scoring the winning 3 point shot at the
1994 FIBA European League Final Four against
Olympiacos
Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...
.
onsports.gr ΤΕΛ ΑΒΙΒ, 19 και 21 ΑΠΡΙΛΙΟΥ 1994: Ο Κορνέλιους, οι βολές και οι... βάρβαροι
/ref>
References
External links
@ basketballreference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Corny
1960 births
Living people
African-American basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Italy
American expatriate basketball people in Spain
American men's basketball players
Baloncesto León players
Basketball coaches from Connecticut
Basketball players from Connecticut
Continental Basketball Association coaches
Dallas Mavericks draft picks
Dallas Mavericks players
Detroit Spirits players
Joventut Badalona players
Liga ACB players
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Pallacanestro Varese players
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Power forwards (basketball)
UConn Huskies men's basketball players
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople