Junior guard Bruce Thornton was recognized for his outstanding junior season on Tuesday when he was selected second-team All-Big Ten by both coaches and media. This marks Thornton’s second straight All-Big Ten nod, as he earned third-team honors by the media last season.
Thornton, the Buckeyes’ unquestioned team leader and three-time team captain, earns the unanimous second-team honor after leading Ohio State in multiple different categories this regular season, including points (17.5 per game), assists (4.5), steals (35) and minutes played (36.1). His point total was a career-high and it ranked eighth in the conference.
Thornton’s 139-to-43 assist-to-turnover ratio (3.23) also led the conference and ranked seventh nationally. He also shot a career-high 49.7 percent from the floor (179 of 360) and 42.6 percent from three (58 of 136) while tacking on 3.4 rebounds per game, all of which, according to Diebler, proves his worth as one of the more well-rounded guards in the conference.
“With what we ask him to do, and how he’s done it, I think absolutely (he) deserves to be recognized as one of the best players in this league,” Diebler said on Monday.
Thornton is the lone Buckeye to earn All-Big Ten honors this season. Perhaps the most notable omission from that list is freshman guard John Mobley Jr., who did not make the league’s All-Freshman team despite totaling 13.2 points and 2.3 assists per game and shooting an efficient 39.1 percent from three (75 of 192).
Diebler made his case for Mobley to be named to the conference’s All-Freshman team the day before the ballots were revealed, saying that he has performed at a high level all season even with opposing defenses keying in on him. Mobley was thrust into the starting lineup after fifth-year guard Meechie Johnson Jr. left the team and started each of the final 21 games of the regular season.
“With John, what we’ve asked him to do and the attention he gets from other defenses he gets from other defenses and how he’s still been able to perform at the level he’s performed, I think he’s absolutely deserving (to be all-league) in what is a stacked freshman class in our league.”
Making the All-Freshman team ahead of Mobley were Rutgers guards Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis, Maryland center Derik Queen — who also was named the league’s Freshman of the Year — and Michigan State guard Jace Richardson.
Thornton was joined on the second-team by Minnesota senior forward Dawson Garcia, Michigan big men Validslov Goldin and Danny Wolf and Northwestern junior forward Nick Martinelli.
The rest of the All-Big Ten teams can be viewed here.
