There was a point three years ago when it became almost as painful for Billy Thornton to watch his son play basketball as it was for Marcus Thornton to try to drag his body down the court, seemingly dropping engine parts along the way.
“If you ever saw him in high school, you know how athletic he was,” the elder Thornton said Thursday. “But he wasn’t even a shadow of that his junior year at Georgia. He looked like a 60-year-old man trying to get up and down the court.”
Chronologically, Georgia’s Marcus Thornton is 22 years old going into potentially his final college basketball game Friday against Michigan State. Fortunately, his knees don’t quite seem a generation removed any more. The Bulldogs’ senior leads the team in scoring and rebounds. He has been a study in perseverance and strength, overcoming three knee surgeries, patella tendinitis (which ultimately led to a medical redshirt in 2012-13) and a variety of other ailments, including a concussion this season.
“It’s been a journey, and the valleys of the journey have been tough,” Thornton said. “The surgeries, sitting out a year, obviously those were low moments for me. But I feel like everything that’s happened to me has happened for a reason.”
Such as?
“I’ve grown as a person, as far as my character and maturity,” he said. “The experiences have shaped me into a different person and helped me have a much wider perspective on everything. I wouldn’t say I was selfish before. I just didn’t see things from as many angles as I do now.”
Georgia is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. It’s fitting that they have been led by Thornton, their only remaining link to that team.
The five-year plan wasn’t by design. But knee pain had become so constant and debilitating that Thornton and his family decided to end his charade of a season after undergoing knee surgery in December 2012 and sought a medical redshirt, which the NCAA granted (even though Thornton had played nine games).
“There were days I just felt sorry for him,” coach Mark Fox said. “There were days …”
Pause.
“… you just don’t wish that on any kid.”
Billy Thornton spoke on the phone while making the drive from Atlanta to Charlotte. He talked about how he and his wife have counseled their children that life too often may seem less than fair.
“There will be tough experiences, but you have to keep pushing,” he said.
But there was a point late in the 2012-13 season when Marcus couldn’t push anymore and his father couldn’t watch anymore. The fluid wing player at Westlake High had devolved into unrecognizable person in Athens.
“I was pulling him out,” he said. “They were saying the medical redshirt was no guarantee, but to me it was the only option. To keep trying to play him was just ludicrous. He had to shut it down.”
It turned out to be the best thing for Thornton. He returned last season to lead Georgia in rebounds and blocked shots and, equally important, evolved into a team leader. This season, he had career-high averages for points (12.3), rebounds (7.2). In had 18 points and 13 rebounds in a key late-season win at Ole Miss.
“I think he played the first three years in pain and it certainly rocked his confidence,” Fox said. “One of the things that was really important to me personally was to see Marcus have a great year and really leave his mark on our team. Last year he won our leadership award because he just refused to let our team fail. He comes into the tournament playing the best basketball of his career, and hopefully he’ll leave a great legacy.”
Thornton also leads the team in preventive maintenance. Think of him as a car that gets an oil change every 700 miles instead of waiting for 3,000.
“Our players have a great respect for him because of what he’s gone through,” Fox said. “They also see how he’s been able to maintain his body. He’s in the training room before everybody and after everybody, just so he can maintain some health.”
If Georgia hopes to upset Michigan State, it will need strong games from their two seniors up front, Thornton and Nemanja Djurisic. The Spartans are led up front by senior Branden Dawson (12 points, 9.1 rebounds), Gavin Schilling (6-9, 240) and Matt Costello (6-9, 245). But Thornton has faced bigger obstacles.
“You can be injured and physically you might get better, but mentally you may never recover,” he said. “That was the bigger side of it for me — the mental part and getting all of my confidence back.”
The 22-year-old has been rescued from the 60-year-old’s knees. Imagine how young he’ll feel if he can lead Georgia to an upset.
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