South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell has been the player of the 2017 NCAA tournament. Thornwell is a big reason the Gamecocks made a Final Four run as a seven seed with victories over teams like Duke, Baylor and Florida.
Thornwell’s March Madness play has fans wondering how Thornwell’s skills translate to the next level. Thornwell started the tournament as an unheralded prospect when it comes to the 2017 NBA Draft. Draft Express had Thornwell going undrafted, but his recent play has caused him to move into the second round.
Thornwell is slotted at 49th in Draft Express’ latest mock draft. Draft Express analyst Jonathan Givony described Thornwell in a recent scouting report:
While he’s not the quickest or most explosive player around, and isn’t someone you want creating a great deal of offense going one on one from behind the 3-point line, he has excellent ball-handling skills and finds ways to create space with strength, aggressiveness, change of speeds and polished footwork. His unselfishness moving the ball ahead in transition, and making the simple play within the set offense really stood out. While his jump-shot is highly unconventional, with the excessive amount of side-spin he gets on it, he clearly has soft touch, and even found ways to make some pull-up jumpers.
NBADraft.net is more bullish on Thornwell. The site has him going 38th to the Celtics in the second round. This evaluation puts him in striking distance of the late first round.
Thornwell was a highly prized recruit coming out of Oak Hill Academy in 2013. Rivals had him as a four-star recruit and noted he received offers from Florida State, Miami, NC State, Ohio State, Virginia and Wake Forest among several other schools.
Thornwell has put up good numbers during his senior season at South Carolina. He is averaging 21.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists during his senior season. He is shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from behind the three-point line.
He has had 29 or more points in South Carolina’s four games leading up to the Final Four. Thornwell has good size for a guard at 6’5″ and 211 pounds. Looking at Thornwell’s size and stats, it can be puzzling to fans as to why Thornwell is not ranked higher on draft boards.
The questions center around Thornwell’s athleticism. While he has been a good penetrator at the college level, it is reasonable to wonder whether he will have the ability to penetrate against NBA defenses given he does not have elite quickness.
Part of the draft evaluation includes a player’s off-court life. Thornwell was arrested in December 2016 for possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license. He was suspended by South Carolina for six games.
However, Thornwell’s play in March could have done a lot for his NBA future. ESPN’s Chad Ford wrote about his tournament play.
Every year there’s a senior who NBA scouts have given up on that comes into the tournament and puts himself back firmly on the NBA radar screen. That’s Thornwell this year. He has been dominant all tournament and he was huge versus Baylor and Florida, averaging 25 points, 6.5 rebounds and two steals and hitting five 3-pointers. His shot is a bit unorthodox. He’s not an elite athlete. He’s already 22 years old. But there’s a toughness, a two-way versatility that could translate in the NBA. I’m not sure he did enough to get into the first round, but his chances of landing a NBA draft combine bid are high. And he’s still got more basketball to play. He’s one of the biggest risers of the tournament.
Gamecocks fans may be watching Thornwell on an NBA roster next season.