Derryck Andre Thornton Jr. (born May 30, 1997) is an 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 for the Leicester Riders of the British Basketball league. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...

, the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

, and the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisio ...

High school career

After attending

Sierra Canyon School , motto_translation = Excellence is its own reward , established = 1978 , type = Independent, Coeducational , head_name = Head of School , head = James P. Skrumbis , ...

Chatsworth, Los Angeles Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

as a freshman, Thornton transferred to

Findlay Prep Findlay Prep is a former high school basketball program located in Henderson, Nevada. The program was created in 2006 by local businessman Cliff Findlay, who owns several car dealerships in the Las Vegas area.Abramson, Mitch"Former Knick Jerome Wi ...

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

. As a junior, he averaged 17 points and 6.2 assists per game, leading his team to a 29–3 record. He graduated one year early by taking courses online and at a local

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

Recruiting

On April 21, 2015, Thornton committed to play college basketball for

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

over offers from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. Coach

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five natio ...

convinced him to reclassify to the 2015 class to replace point guard

Tyus Jones Tyus Robert Jones Sr. (born May 10, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for his hometown team the Minnesota Timberwolves for 4 seasons ...

, who was leaving to play professionally. Thornton was a consensus five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and one of the highest ranked

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

s in his class.

College career

As a freshman at Duke, Thornton made 20 starts but saw his playing time fluctuate despite being the only pure point guard on the team. He averaged 7.1 points and 2.5 assists per game. Following the season Thornton transferred to

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, choosing the Trojans over

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. After sitting out a season as a redshirt, he averaged 3.8 points and 1.2 assists per game off the bench. As a redshirt junior, Thornton started 27 games and averaged 7.7 points and 4.3 assists per game. He opted to transfer after the season as a graduate transfer and committed to

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

after considering Gonzaga,

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

and St. John's. Thornton averaged 12.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game in his final season at Boston College.

Professional career

On August 27, 2020, Thornton signed his first professional contract with

Borac Čačak Borac may refer to: * FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina ** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club ** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club * FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čačak ...

of the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia ( sr, Кошаркашка лига Србије, Košarkaška liga Srbije; abbr. КЛС or KLS), is a top-tier men's professional basketball league in Serbia. Founded in 2006, it is run by the Basketball Federatio ...

. He averaged 4.9 points and 1.5 assists per game. On December 17, 2021, Thornton signed with the

Kapfenberg Bulls Kapfenberg Bulls, also known simply as Bulls, is a professional basketball club that is based in Kapfenberg, Styria, Austria. History Since 1991, the Kapfenberg Bulls have played in the Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga, the highest Austri ...

of the

Austrian Basketball Superliga The Austrian Basketball Superliga (English: Basketball Super League) is the highest tier basketball league in Austria. Established in 2019, it replaced the Austrian Basketball Bundesliga (ABL) as the first level competition in the country. The win ...

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 20 , , 26.0 , , .390 , , .325 , , .690 , , 1.8 , , 2.5 , , .8 , , .2 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 25 , , 1 , , 14.2 , , .363 , , .318 , , .852 , , 1.4 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .2 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 27 , , 27.7 , , .382 , , .286 , , .660 , , 2.8 , , 4.3 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 7.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 29 , , 31.4 , , .376 , , .263 , , .786 , , 2.8 , , 3.4 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 12.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 122 , , 77 , , 25.3 , , .380 , , .290 , , .744 , , 2.2 , , 2.9 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 7.9

References

External links

Boston College Eagles bioUSC Trojans bioDuke Blue Devils bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Derryck 1997 births Living people ABA League players African-American baseball players American expatriate basketball people in Serbia American men's basketball players Basketball people from California Boston College Eagles men's basketball players Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players KK Borac Čačak players Point guards People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles USC Trojans men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportspeople