Brian Thornton is in his second season as an assistant coach with the Eagles after serving as an assistant at Furman the 2011-12 season.
Prior to his arrival at Furman, Thornton spent two years as the director of basketball operations at Xavier. Before beginning his coaching career, Thornton was an outstanding collegiate player, first at Vanderbilt (2001-2003) where he earned a spot on the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team, and then at Xavier (2004-2006) where he was an All-Atlantic 10 selection, a two-time Student-Athlete of the Year, and the first player in Musketeer history to earn Academic All-American honors.
Following his collegiate playing career, the Louisville, KY native played professional basketball in Germany for one year before returning to Xavier to serve as a volunteer coach while completing work on a master's degree in business administration. He graduated cum laude with an undergraduate degree in liberal arts with an emphasis in business in 2005 from Xavier and also earned his MBA from XU in 2007.
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Brian Thornton is a rising superstar in our business. I have always said, if his career of choice would have been politics, he may have been president in twelve years,” said Kelsey. “Working with him at Xavier for two years, I saw firsthand the caliber of his talent and character. I knew that when I became a head coach Brian was a 'no brainer' hire. Brian is a passionate basketball coach and has a unique ability to relate with student athletes. He is a terrific addition to the Winthrop family. “
Thornton says he is ecstatic about the opportunity to be a part of a program that has had such a history of success. “The heights this program has seen make it one of the "true gems" of college basketball,” he said.
“I've worked with Coach Kelsey before and I believe in his vision. His energy and love for basketball is contagious. He excites everyone around him from players, to coaches, to fans and members of the community. I'm looking forward to helping him take Winthrop basketball to the next level."
During his time at Xavier, the program posted a 24-8 record, claimed an Atlantic 10 Conference regular season title and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2010-11. In his first season on the Musketeers’ staff, Xavier fashioned a 26-9 record and advanced to the NCAA’s Sweet Sixteen.
He played two seasons at Xavier under Sean Miller after transferring from Vanderbilt University. He scored 1,175 points in his collegiate career, including 611 for Xavier and 564 for Vanderbilt. His two-year Musketeer career field goal percentage of 61.9 percent broke the XU career two-year record. Despite having his Xavier senior year cut short after 21 games due to injury, Thornton earned a long list of postseason honors, including 2005-06 First Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference and NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) All-District 10 First Team. Thornton led the team in scoring (15.3 ppg.), rebounding (6.8 rpg.), field goal percentage (first in the Atlantic 10 and top 10 in the nation at 64.0 percent) and blocks (2.1 bpg.). XU finished that season at 21-11, won the Atlantic 10 Tournament and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Thornton averaged 10.7 ppg. and 5.8 rpg. as a junior in the 2004-05 season as XU finished 17-12. Thornton started 46 of his 48 games at Xavier.
Thornton played in 61 games in two seasons at Vanderbilt under Kevin Stallings, including 40 starts. He averaged 7.2 ppg. and 4.6 rpg. as a freshman in the 2001-02 season and earned a spot on the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team as he helped the Commodores advance to the second round of the postseason NIT. He averaged 11.5 ppg. and 5.7 rpg. as a sophomore in the 2002-03 season. Prior to Vanderbilt, Thornton was an All-State standout at Louisville’s DuPont Manual High School.
