Attended Valley HS – Las Vegas, NV

Stats: Hank Thorns

Sophomore Year:
Hank must improve his outside shooting so defenses cannot back off him and prevent his ability to penetrate and dish. Would also do better in an up-tempo environment, and with the extra conditioning efforts of all the guys, this may be more likely to happen.

Freshman Year:
Hank started at point guard for most of the first half of the season until Malcolm Delaney took over during conference play. Finished the season leading the Hokies in assists (3.2 apg) and was second in steals (40).

Thorns never established himself as an offensive threat for Tech and averaged just 4.6 ppg despite playing more than half the games on average (21 mpg). When he drove, teams were able to block his shot most of the time, or fall off and prevent him from dishing the ball. Hank also struggled from behind the arc, shooting just 29% (22/76). On two point shots, he wasn’t much better at 40% (31/78).

On defense, Hank was the best defensive guard. He was able to man up and use his quickness on most players. But due to his short stature (5’9″), opponents can shoot over him.

His best game was in the overtime win at bc where he scored 11 points, 9 of which in overtime, and shut down bc’s stud Rice over the last 15 minutes.

******High School Accolades******

Rivals.com Class of 2007 Rankings:

• 3 stars

Scout.com Class of 2007 Rankings:

• 2 stars

Of Note:

• Averaged 27.6 points, 6.4 assists, and 12.5 rebounds as a senior at Valley HS. Named first team all-state (Nevada).
• First team all-state in football as a senior.
• Averaged 21.7 points, 7.5 assists, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals as a junior at Valley HS. Named first team all-state (Nevada) and was region MVP.
• Named a scholar-athlete for both basketball and football as a junior and senior.
• Plays AAU basketball for the Las Vegas Dogcatchers .

Niemo’s Take:

• A guard that can average 12.5 rebounds per game at under 6′ is very impressive! Obviously battles inside and doesn’t just sit on the perimeter chucking threes.
• Can shoot it from outside, but also is a good penetrator. Extremely quick (let’s hope he develops into a sean singletary type of player).
• Flew under the radar until recently. kentucky and new coach Billy Gillispie was all over him at the end. Also considered uva and hometown unlv. Considered odu at one point in time.
• Made his official visit to VT on 5/24, his last official, and that seems to have been the clincher for Hank and the Hokies.
• It will be interesting to see how VT uses their guards if they get Thorns since they will have three point guards on campus next season. Both Thorns and Munson are true point guards, while my favorite recruit of the ’07 Class (Malcolm Delaney), I think will develop into more of a ’2′ for the Hokies. Recruit Dorenzo Hudson will likely also see time at the shooting guard spot.

Popularity: 10% [?]