Derryck Thornton did the Duke Blue Devils a huge favor this past year when he decided to forego his final year of high school and instead go to college and play for the basketball team. Duke had just lost Tyus Jones to the draft and was in desperate need of a point guard, so the Blue Devils convinced Thornton to reclassify.
Thornton did just that and showed some signs of really good play as a freshman, but overall things just didn't work out for him in Durham which is why he decided to transfer. Thronton transferring from Duke could be a good thing in the short-tem for the team but may hurt it in the long-term. However, whichever school Thornton decides to transfer to will be getting a huge boost.
As for where Thornton might end up playing the last three years of his college eligibility, he has narrowed his list of schools down to four: Kansas, USC, Miami and Washington. Thornton says he will take an official visit to all four finalists before he ultimately makes his decision, and he has already scheduled visits to both USC and Kansas.
Initially when it was announced that Thornton would be transferring, it was assumed that he would end up at a Pac 12 school as he is from Chatsworth, Calif. That little nugget would seem to put USC and Washington in the lead, but Miami and Kansas are seen as very formidable threats to snag the former Blue Devil.
Thornton says that he likes the success that Miami head coach Jim Larranaga have had with transfer point guards in the past like Shanke Larkin and Angel Rodriguez. Thornton also likes the fact that Kansas wins the Big 12 literally every year and that the Jayhawks are always in the national championship picture. The Jayhawks are an interesting team to watch here because they are the only team recruiting 2017 number one prospect DeAndre Ayton right now. If Thornton chose Kansas he would have to sit out a year and would be able to start playing in 2017. Ayton hasn't decided yet and neither has Thornton, but the two of them could form a very good combo in a couple of years.
The 6-foot-2 point guard averaged 7.1 points and 2.6 assists in sporadic playing time with the Blue Devils last season but never really found a groove. Thornton is a former five-star recruit and was ranked as the 17th best player overall and the third best point guard in last year's recruiting class. Although it was just one year at Duke, Thornton felt he needed a change of scenery, and now one of these final four schools should benefit greatly in the near future.
