Special Feature
February 25, 2003 11:43 AM | General
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| Rod Thorn
Special to MSNsportsNET.com
The West Virginia Legislature declared him one of the state's natural resources, and while not legally binding, that declaration urged the talented youngster from Mercer County to cast his lot with the Mountaineers. Thorn did just that, playing for the Old Gold and Blue from 1961‑63, and he certainly measured up to the high expectations. He earned a first‑team spot on numerous All‑America teams, before becoming the third overall pick of the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA. After playing eight years of pro ball, Thorn remained in the league for distinguished service in various capacities. Those included NBA vice‑president in charge of basketball operations, head coach, general manager, and now president of the New Jersey Nets. "I really enjoyed my years at WVU," he said in a recent interview. "Oh, it was tough my sophomore year (taking over where Jerry West left off), but my last couple years I played a little better and enjoyed it a lot more." Thorn, like West, always has been modest about his tremendous achievements Figures don't lie, though. The 6‑foot-4 guard/forward, who like West wore No. 44, led the Mountaineers in scoring, rebounding, shooting percentage and assists. In the process, he set six records which still stand. For 82 games in three years, he tallied 1,785 points ‑ an average of 21.8 per game ‑ and 912 rebounds ‑ 11.1 per game. He shot 45 percent from the field (692 of 1,559) and 70.6 percent from the foul line (401 of 568). He also averaged 3.5 assists per game. "I don't have any regrets about coming to WVU," said Thorn, who was heavily recruited by many colleges. "I just came along at the wrong time. Jerry had just left for the NBA and I was being compared to him. "He was such a great player that anybody (following him) would have come up a little short unless his name were Robertson or West or Jordan. So that was tough." But make no mistake, Thorn handled himself well in every respect. He not only excelled in basketball (70‑18 record) but also baseball (66‑21) in Morgantown, and he was a straight‑A student. He was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 for his exploits. He wanted to become a medical doctor. But he got sidetracked from that goal during his career as an NBA player. "I really loved those eight years," Thorn said. "From Baltimore, I got traded to the Detroit Pistons, then to St. Louis, and I ended up with Seattle, which was an expansion team. "It was fun. I liked the lifestyle and camaraderie and the traveling. I made a lot of good friends over the course of time." His longest stint covered 14 1/2 years as NBA vice‑president. He was in charge of referees, scheduling, rules‑making, etc. Thorn became best known, however, as the man who doled out fines and suspensions for infractions. "I really enjoyed working with the best commissioner in professional sports (David Stern)," he said. "We had a lot of talented people, and the NBA was doing very well during most of the time I was over there." Why did he decide to give up that position? "Well, it got to that point in life where I wanted to try to build a team again," said Thorn, who's 59. "I missed that a little and desired to get it back." He's confident the New Jersey Nets will be a competitive franchise for years to come. Last year under his leadership, New Jersey made the NBA Finals before falling to Los Angeles. Thorn served as a head coach in the NBA and ABA after having been an assistant in the leagues for many years, but it was as general manager of the Chicago Bulls that he drafted Michael Jordan, "arguably the game's best player ever." Thorn resides in Rye, N.Y., with his wife, the former Peggy Reynolds of Princeton, a University of Detroit graduate. They have one son, J.J., who played basketball at West Virginia Wesleyan, and twin daughters, Amanda and Jessica, students at Georgetown. |
No
one in West Virginia University's basketball history ever enrolled under as
heavy pressure as Rodney King Thorn.
