{"id":418318,"date":"2026-06-25T08:46:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T08:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/?p=418318"},"modified":"2026-06-25T08:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T08:46:21","slug":"bruce-thornton-taken-first-in-round-2-as-teams-look-to-find-gems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/bruce-thornton-taken-first-in-round-2-as-teams-look-to-find-gems\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Thornton taken first in Round 2 as teams look to find gems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Overview<br><\/strong>Bruce Thornton was named Mr. Georgia Basketball in 2022 and was a four-star recruit, picking Ohio State over Alabama, Georgia and Auburn. With the Buckeyes, Thornton was a four-year team captain and became Ohio State\u2019s all-time leading scorer. He earned two Second-Team All-Big Ten nods (2025, 2026) and one Third-Team honor (2024). Thornton was also an AP Honorable Mention All-American as a senior, leading the Buckeyes to their first NCAA Tournament since 2022. He joined Talor Battle as the only Big Ten players ever to record 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Over his final two collegiate seasons, Thornton averaged 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game with 53\/40\/84 shooting splits. In four seasons, he missed only one game.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Career Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Three\u2011time All\u2011Big Ten Team selection, including Second Team honors in 2024\u201125 and 2025\u201126.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ohio State\u2019s all\u2011time leading scorer (2,164 points), breaking Dennis Hopson\u2019s 39-year-old record in 2026.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>One of two Big Ten players ever with 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists, joining Talor Battle.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2025-26, averaged 19.9 points and named an AP Honorable Mention All\u2011America selection.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>First four\u2011time team captain in Buckeyes history; three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Analysis<br><\/strong>Thornton made an immediate impact in college and only got better over time. He plays under control, hardly ever turning the ball over while delivering elite offensive production. As he got older and stronger, his efficiency improved, but his game was built on being more physical than his opponents. That\u2019ll be difficult to replicate at the NBA level, but Thornton has enough veteran moxie and savvy to develop into a crafty professional scorer. While not the biggest or most gifted athlete, he has a low center of gravity and plenty of tenacity to be intrigued by his defensive upside.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Projection<br><\/strong>Thornton\u2019s college arc and playing style draw natural comparisons to Jalen Brunson, who was a four-year, undersized guard and needed multiple years in the NBA before surprisingly developing into an All-NBA talent. That\u2019d be a best-case scenario for Thornton, who\u2019s more likely to have a long career as a reserve or depth option. He\u2019s bigger than Tyus and Tre Jones, but like the brothers out of Duke, Thornton could be a steady backup guard whom coaches feel comfortable leading the second-unit offense. Thornton is also a few inches shorter than Lu Dort but just as strong and could be an annoying 3-and-D player for years if he focuses on being a wing at the next level.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OverviewBruce Thornton was named Mr. Georgia Basketball in 2022 and was a four-star recruit, picking Ohio State over Alabama, Georgia and Auburn. With the Buckeyes, Thornton was a four-year team captain and became Ohio State\u2019s all-time leading scorer. He earned two Second-Team All-Big Ten nods (2025, 2026) and one Third-Team honor (2024). Thornton was also [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-418318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12903"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":418319,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418318\/revisions\/418319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}