Sindarius Thornwell

Thornwell was born Nov. 15, 1994, the son of Greg Wade and Sharicka Thornwell. He has one brother, Quantavious, and one sister, Quasheka. For his first three years of high school, Thornwell attended Lancaster High School in Lancaster, South Carolina. For his senior year, he transferred to Oak Hill Academy, where he averaged 26.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.6 per game. The team had a 33-5 record, and Thornwell was ranked as the 39th-best player by ESPN.com and a four-star recruit by Rivals.com. He also played in the 2012 Nike Global Challenge. He attended South Carolina for college, where he had a standout senior season, averaging 21.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.0 blocks. That led him to being named SEC Player of the Year. Thornwell was a South Carolina product who decided to stay home for college. He spent a season with the Oak Hill Academy before matriculating to University of South Carolina where he was a four-year starter. The 6-5 guard averaged 13.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a freshman in coach Frank Martin's second season with the Gamecocks. The team was just 5-13 in conference play, but Thornwell scored 20 points or more five times. The guard struggled from the field as a sophomore and converted just 34.0 percent of his field goals. His scoring dipped to 11.4 points, but he still scored 20 points twice, including a loss against Kentucky. He bounced back to his freshman level as a junior and put up 13.4 points and 3.8 assists, including three double-doubles. Everything came together for the Gamecocks and Thornwell in his senior season. He was named SEC Player of the Year and averaged 22.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals. He put together a career game with 44 points and 21 rebounds in quadruple-overtime loss to Georgia. South Carolina advanced to the Final Four as a seven-seed by beating teams like Duke and Florida. Thornwell averaged 23.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in the run in the Big Dance.