Kenton Thornton

[DallasDiehard]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by locostang:
<B>Will have to watch Kenton this year to see if he is really worth all the hype. I have watched him the past two seasons and was not very impressed. He should have dominated those games. Come on, he is playing private school ball. The DBs he goes against are 5'9 white boys. He should put up unbelieveable numbers. I don't know him personally, so I can't say what his attitude is like, but I'm sure he has thought pretty highly of himself since his brother went to Texas. He has figured he is automatic, which is probably somewhat true, but he struts like he is deserved. The guy is kind of goofy actually. His feet are huge! I can't see him playing WR in college. Not enough quicks. Maybe TE or DE. I don't think his brothers any good really either. They play lazily. Texas is a perfect place for them. In my eyes Texas tends to get all these blue chippers who think of themselves as blue chippers who end up playing way below their means. Go to a UT game. They look lazy. Watch them on TV. They look lazy. Not saying SMU is any better really, but UT won't win the title ever under Brown. He doesn't get his players to go all out, all game, every game. </B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Huh? Are we talking about the same Thornton brothers? I can't speak for Kyle (the OL who's a freshman at UT this year), but Kalen is the LEAST lazy player I can remember in a long time. He might not be as physically gifted as some other blue-chip guys, but when he's healthy, he goes non-stop on every single play. I've seen him projected as high as the second round of the NFL draft if his knee holds up. And I've seen Kenton play, both football and basketball, and every game I've seen since he was a sophomore, he dominated -- one of those proverbial "man against boys" situations. He does have big feet, which means nothing more than the need for big shoes as far as I'm concerned, but maybe it means he's still growing. He's very quick for a 6-5 guy, and he can jump over anyone. He dunks a basketball easily, and not just on fast breaks when he gets up a head of steam. He can go flat-footed for a two-hand jam. Maybe we're talking about different Thorntons here (St. Mark's does have a QB with the same last name who couldn't outrun me - not related to the same family), so I'm certainly not challenging what you've seen. All I know is that every time I've seen him, he makes a joke of the other team's defense - in football and in hoops.

[PonyFan]

He's changed his list of favorites, because he really wants to play basketball, too. He's a shade over 6'5" -- almost 6'6" -- but the national powers recruiting him have said they want him to play football only. At the moment, Thornton's new favorites probably are .... Colorado State and Cal, because each has said he can play hoops, too.

As a basketball player, he's not a dominant inside scorer, and he doesn't handle the ball well enough for a guard -- although that certainly could be learned. He does have great leaping ability, and is a strong defensive player. With good coaching, his ball-handling and outside shooting will improve (see Justin Isham). If we could get him interested in SMU, I promise you he'd be well worth the risk.

[Silk]

No way he ends up at Cal or CSU.