Army picks up forward

Whit Thornton took an official visit to Army last weekend and before leaving campus was convinced it was the right place for him so the forward from Nashville (Tenn.) Montgomery Bell Academy decided to commit.

"Coach (Zach) Spiker just got the job last year, it was a slow process getting his staff together, because he wanted to make sure he got the right guys for the job," Thornton said. "Every coach played college basketball so there is a lot of experience playing the game on the staff.

"The oldest coach is mid-30s so they're all young and they understand what I'm going through, what I'm thinking and how to relate to me. They're great. They are the best staff I've talked to. They want to use me as a 3-4 type of guy and create mismatches."

Thornton is a 6-foot-8, 185-pound prospect who was also hearing from Bradley, Columbia, Cornell, Elon, Middle Tennessee State, Morehead State, Navy, Penn and Western Michigan. He felt his best opportunity would be at Army especially after sitting down and talking to Spiker about the program's future.

"They have a great energy going," Thornton said. "They know exactly what they want to get back to winning the Patriot League and getting into the tournament. (Spiker) told me he has a blueprint to an NCAA Tournament run and I could be a part of that. They have a plan and there is no doubt in my mind they're going to get there."

During his visit Friday, Thornton met with professors and the academic dean and got to see a bunch of the buildings on Army's campus. It was an invaluable experience for Thornton, who said the history at West Point is just overwhelming.

"They showed me all the historic sites on the campus which is really awesome," Thornton said. "There is so much history there. It's overwhelming with all the history there."

Thornton also attended a class, played some pick-up basketball during the weekend and watched the Army-Hawaii football game. After multiple meetings with the coaching staff, Thornton figured Saturday would be the best time to commit.

"I watched the (football) game and then met with all the coaches and talked about the future and that's when I committed after sitting down with all of them," Thornton said.