Ryan Thornton leaving

[SaintLouBrave22]

Now that we know Cole-Scott is gone, I had read in various reports that Ryan Thornton may also not be returning...


Does anyone know his status for sure?

I mean I know he is a walk-on, but I felt if he worked hard, he could help us out some w/ his shooting ability

[Da Coach]

There has not been anything decided officially. Nothing has been announced yet.

[Da Coach]

Now there is an official announcement--

Walking on, off the Hilltop--

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/051508/BRA_BGKHEEU8.071.php

Ryan Thornton is leaving Bradley. As rumored, he is transferring to NAIA Illinois-Springfield, where he'll be eligible to play next season.

Bradley will get 1 new walkon, James Robertson, a 6'3" shooting guard from Richwoods HS. James is the grandson of longtime Bradley employee Corky Robertson, and the great-grandson of BU coachin great A.J. Robertson, for who the Fieldhouse was named. James is also quite a good shooter.

Coach Les also said that walkons Ryan Phillips and Brian Lavin would be back, but that Cameron Sweatman would likely not return.

Note that Les also comments about what he might do with the vacated scholarship of Tyrone Cole-Scott.

[Big Mike]

Good Luck to RT......and nice to hear a Robertson will be on the team!

[Braves4Life]

Class

"I'm leaving Bradley on great terms," Thornton said. "I made a lot of great friends and they wished me the best. The coaching staff was phenomenal. I learned so much from them. I really appreciated the opportunity and tried to make the best of it."


CLASS!!! That's the difference that some could stand to learn from! Good luck to RT.......... I wouldn't be surprised to see him make an immediate impact.

[Da Coach]

Good point. No doubt Ryan is just as disappointed he didn't earn a scholarship for next season as TCS was. But he and Mr. Thornton are taking the high road and not lobbing insults and false accusations on their way out the door.

[tornado]

Ryan should not only be able to step in and play at Illinois-Springfield, he has a chance to be an impact player at that level.
I saw some of the Ill.-Springfield kids playing at the RiverPlex over the past couple summers, and Ryan is as good as any of them and has the potential with his size and shooting to be better.

[Beninator]

Best of luck to Ryan. Hope he lights it up in Springfield.

[PTownHawkeye]

You will never find anywhere in my posting history that I have ever said anything along these lines, but I'll say it now...I'm excited about a walk-on we've just picked up. I have watched James Robertson progress from a spare minutes sophomore to a star senior at Richwoods. I can't say I've seen a local player improve so drastically from season to season.

If he can continue this improvement in his footwork and defense, I honestly think we could see some PT from him by his last 2 years. Also, I tend to believe he is still growing. This past fall, he was listed at 6'1, but I read in that article that he is now 6'3. You can't teach a pure shooting stroke like the one he has. Plus the legacy. He could be a great story for us in a few years.

[thefish7]

Good luck, RT!

[Disturbed]

You will never find anywhere in my posting history that I have ever said anything along these lines, but I'll say it now...I'm excited about a walk-on we've just picked up. I have watched James Robertson progress from a spare minutes sophomore to a star senior at Richwoods. I can't say I've seen a local player improve so drastically from season to season.

If he can continue this improvement in his footwork and defense, I honestly think we could see some PT from him by his last 2 years. Also, I tend to believe he is still growing. This past fall, he was listed at 6'1, but I read in that article that he is now 6'3. You can't teach a pure shooting stroke like the one he has. Plus the legacy. He could be a great story for us in a few years.

Brian Phillips was a star at Richwoods also, but will never have an impact at Bradley. Others thought that Ryan Thornton would have an impact at BU, but never put on a uniform. I hope you are right about this kid, but it is highly unlikely.

[Scouter]

Good point. No doubt Ryan is just as disappointed he didn't earn a scholarship for next season as TCS was. But he and Mr. Thornton are taking the high road and not lobbing insults and false accusations on their way out the door.

So you don't believe what TCS said? To each his own. Even though there was no text message, TCS did say EB made the statement his father said EB did...

[Da Coach]

No, I have said it already, I do not believe TCS.

TCS also says he was never given a chance at Bradley (despite the fact that he played more minutes than any other non-starter), and that he should have been a starter after he scored 36 points against St. Ambrose, despite his 21.4% three point percentage, and his instant turnover tendency.

Do you believe these statements? I think he has a real problem with the reality at a Division I school like Bradley.

[houstontxbrave]

So you don't believe what TCS said? To each his own. Even though there was no text message, TCS did say EB made the statement his father said EB did...

I believe that a text message would have been an exact quote. A conversation, unless it was recorded, is pretty much hearsay. Maybe EB said the exact thing the Scott's are saying and maybe he didnt, no one knows and I doubt anyone ever will.

I dont believe everything the Scotts are saying and I dont believe everything BU and JL are saying. There is a truth in the middle and none of us will ever know exactly what happened.

[tornado]

Well, you cannot possibly believe everything both sides are saying, since the stories are mutually contradicting.
PLUS TCS is saying he never got the chance to play and even felt he deserved to start after one good exhibition game!
You either have to believe one side and disbelieve the other, or you have to disbelieve both.
I have seen evidence of contradictory comments and revision of statements coming from the TCS side already, so I will choose to believe the truth is closer to the side we hear from the coaching staff.
This is how I felt when Danny Granger lobbed all his silly accusations, many (if not most) of which were proven false like the traffic ticket that caused him to miss the bus, and the fact that he hadn't talked with the UNM coaching staff, then the Albuquerque press gets the phone records and proves otherwise.
DG also said nobody from UNM had "tampered" but then the next day after he left BU, he was in Albuquerque and enrolling at New Mexico, a scenario that would be completely impossible had previous contact not already lined that up!

So, I tend to believe the guy whose story has the fewest holes in it...
and like I said, this case is a lopsided win for the Jim Les side, just like the Danny Granger case was.