Kenton Thornton

[Pony4Life]

Any update on what he's going to do?

[Stallion]

he will probably have to decide by the end of the month because I think the end of the regular FB signing period is March 31-otherwise, he couldn't sign a FB LOI until August -of course, that assumes he would sign a FB LOI. He could sign a BB LOI with some team which would give him some additional time to decide-but I'm not sure SMU has a BB space availiable unless someone is leaving.

[Vitale]

Unless I (and a lot of PonyFans) have missed something, Lowe and Atkins are graduating, and we already have three signed for next year, right? Which means unless my math is horrible (don't answer that), there's no way we have an extra 'ship to give. Or am I missing something here?

If he wanted to, could Coach Bennett find a football scholarship for this guy? Are there any left under the 85-man limit?

[Stallion]

I agree but that doesn't mean someone won't be back next year that we are not anticipating. That's why its probably sign a FB LOI by March 31 or he more than likely ain't coming.

[tmustangp]

I am not exactly sure who this guy is but if its who i think it is we really don't have a chance w/ him... if he is the youngest of the UT bound football brothers (Kalen Thornton and ???) then i doubt smu has a chance because apperently this kid is the best athlete of the three and he is 6'4 and can really run...

please let me know if i have the wrong though

[Stallion]

its my understanding that he turned down a FB offer to UT(all major services reported him as a UT FB commitment) and may want to play BB instead. He was offered by UT but for some reason turned it down. Coming from St. Mark's he will easily have the necessary SAT/ACT but I guess its possible he didn't have the GPA or could have scored low in a core course-but that's pure speculation. Haven't heard anything in over a month about Thorton and I've looked.

[DallasDiehard]

Yeah, Kenton is the younger brother of Kalen and Kyle. Word is he's over 6'5" - closer to 6'6" - although the reports of him running a 4.4 are a bit of a stretch (I hear he's more in the 4.55 range). Either way, he's a big guy who can run, has great athleticism and instincts, and he has great hands.

He really likes UT (having had brothers playing for the shorthorns for the last five years), and he likes Mack Brown and his staff. But he also wants to play basketball, and Rick Barnes seems to have no interest. My vote would be to sign him, and since Coach Bennett would be footing the bill for his education, let him play hoops after the football season is over. My guess is that he could help the basketball team in some capacity, and would be the most valuable hoops walk-on SMU has had in eons.

[Recruiting Guru]

I am not exactly sure who this guy is but if its who i think it is we really don't have a chance w/ him... if he is the youngest of the UT bound football brothers (Kalen Thornton and ???) then i doubt smu has a chance because apperently this kid is the best athlete of the three and he is 6'4 and can really run...

please let me know if i have the wrong though

You've got the right guy, tmustangp. Kenton Thornton is the younger brother of Kalen (former Texas DE, now in camp with the Cowboys as an OLB/special teams prospect) and Kyle (Texas OL). He's now over 6-5 .... almost 6-6. He is the most athletic of the family, including his dad (Bruce, a former Cowboys OL). He didn't officially turn down UT's offer, but was hesitant because the Horns want him to add weight and play TE. He wants to play WR, and he also knows that UT signed a slew of WRs to compensate for the loss of Roy Williams (Detroit Lions), B.J. Johnson (Denver Broncos) and Sloan Thomas (Houston Texans). So he told Mack Brown that he wanted to continue looking, because he feels more strongly than ever that he wants to play basketball in college .... perhaps at the expense of playing football. He's been told by UT that he still can go there to play football, but they don't want him for basketball. And here's the thing: in high school, he not only was the best athlete on the basketball team, he also was almost always the biggest player on the floor, so while he has the ability to play on the perimeter, he often was moved inside to play in the post. That, of course, won't happen in college. He's projected as a shooting guard in college, and wants to try to play point guard .... and now Stanford has shown interest. So my source tells me that in an interest to improve his ball-handling skills and shot, as well as to improve on his already-impressive academic standing, he likely will head to a prep school on the east coast for a year, with the hope of earning a spot on the Stanford basketball team. Whether he then would try also to play football at Stanford is unclear.

[GoRedGoBlue]

sounds like we could get him at WR and let him walkon at BBall...

interesting.

[Fresh]

Once again, our Guru comes through with more information than any recruiting service can cough up. Thanks for the update.

I agree, we could get him as a WR, and there's no doubt he'd be welcomed with open arms. But it sounds to me like he either (A) wants to get out of Dallas or (B) wants to play at a school with a higher national profile.

Sure would be nice to see him in red and blue, though.

[giacfsp]

.... You've got the right guy, tmustangp. Kenton Thornton is the younger brother of Kalen (former Texas DE, now in camp with the Cowboys as an OLB/special teams prospect) and Kyle (Texas OL). He's now over 6-5 .... almost 6-6. He is the most athletic of the family, including his dad (Bruce, a former Cowboys OL). He didn't officially turn down UT's offer, but was hesitant because the Horns want him to add weight and play TE. He wants to play WR, and he also knows that UT signed a slew of WRs to compensate for the loss of Roy Williams (Detroit Lions), B.J. Johnson (Denver Broncos) and Sloan Thomas (Houston Texans). So he told Mack Brown that he wanted to continue looking, because he feels more strongly than ever that he wants to play basketball in college .... perhaps at the expense of playing football. He's been told by UT that he still can go there to play football, but they don't want him for basketball. And here's the thing: in high school, he not only was the best athlete on the basketball team, he also was almost always the biggest player on the floor, so while he has the ability to play on the perimeter, he often was moved inside to play in the post. That, of course, won't happen in college. He's projected as a shooting guard in college, and wants to try to play point guard .... and now Stanford has shown interest. So my source tells me that in an interest to improve his ball-handling skills and shot, as well as to improve on his already-impressive academic standing, he likely will head to a prep school on the east coast for a year, with the hope of earning a spot on the Stanford basketball team. Whether he then would try also to play football at Stanford is unclear.

Good stuff, Guru! Thanks.