Mississippi State women’s basketball interim head coach Doug Novak announced the addition of Bob Thornton to his staff as an assistant coach on Friday. Thornton brings with him an extensive coaching resume that extends nearly four decades.
“The addition of coach Thornton to our staff is going to pay big dividends down the road for us because of how great of a teacher he is,” Novak said. “Coach Thornton is a professional and he has played, and coached, the game at its highest level in the NBA. We’ve been friends for a long time, and to be able to bring in a guy that sees the game from the lens of a professional while also having great teaching skills will go a long way in the development of our team.”
Thornton comes to Starkville with 38 years of coaching experience at the professional and collegiate levels. He spent 13 years as an NBA assistant coach and 21 years in various professional roles and leagues worldwide. He got his start in coaching at Chapman University and Cal State Fullerton.
He has a reputation around basketball circles as an excellent player development coach with expertise in developing forwards and centers.
“The opportunity to come coach at Mississippi State is really exciting for me because I am coming to the highest level of collegiate basketball in the SEC,” Thornton said. “Mississippi State has a great history, and I love what Doug does and how he coaches, and I’m just very excited to be here.”
Thornton served as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls. He has spent time as an advance scout for the Seattle SuperSonics and Oklahoma City Thunder, where he assisted the franchise in scouting and eventually drafting Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Thornton has spent time as a head coach in the NBA D-League, now the G-League, with the Huntsville Flights and in the Chinese Basketball Association’s Quad City Thunder.
Thornton, a graduate of UC Irvine, played professionally for more than a decade. After getting his start in Spain, he spent time with the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards. He was coached by Jerry Sloan, Hubie Brown and Rick Pitino, among others, while playing in the NBA.
Mississippi State fans can get their first look at the 2021-22 Bulldogs at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1, when State hosts Mississippi College in their lone preseason exhibition. The season will officially tip off at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9, against Alabama State at Humphrey Coliseum.
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