For Towson guard Josh Thornton, Christmas came a week early last month. After being ineligible for all of last year and the first month of this season because of NCAA transfer rules, the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder returned to the court Dec. 19 against Lafayette ? his first game since he left Georgetown.
For Thornton, who has played organized basketball since he was 5 years old, spending more than a year away from the hardwood was one of the toughest things he has ever had to do.
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And returning to the court was one of the best.
“It?s a feeling that I can?t really explain,” Thornton said. “It?s a feeling I had lost, and getting it back was like finding lost money.”
Thornton played just nine minutes and scored three points in the loss against the Leopards. Since then, however, he has been a major contributor for the Tigers (6-11, 2-5 Colonial Athletic Association), as he has been elevated into the starting lineup for averaging 12 points per game, third-most on the team.
Thornton, a highly recruited prospect out of Caesar Rodney High in Rochester, N.Y., committed to Georgetown because of its elite basketball program and strong academics. But after getting limited minutes his freshman year on a team with many talented guards, he decided he no longer wanted to be buried on the depth chart.
He jumped at the chance to play for Coach Pat Kennedy.
“The guy is just a good overall basketball player,” Kennedy said. “There was just no question that he would be a great fit here.”
But Thornton is not the only transfer playing a big role for Towson this season. Junior Hairston, who leads the team in scoring (13.7 ppg), rebounding (10.6 rpg) and blocks (1.8 bpg) transferred from the College of Charleston after the 2005-2006 season and also sat out last year.
The Tigers are coming off consecutive conference losses. But to get back into the race for one of the conference tournament?s four first-round byes, they must put together a winning streak.
That starts tonight at 7, when the Tigers open a three-game homestand against last-place Georgia State (4-13, 1-6) at Towson Center.
The Tigers split with the Panthers last year, losing in double overtime in Atlanta before blowing them out at Towson Center.
“We?re 2-5, we?ve got a chance to be five and five after these three home games,” Hairston said. “We?ve just got to look at it that way.”
