BOULDER — As painful as it is for him to recall, Colorado junior guard Dwight Thorne II had to admit that he probably couldn’t have hit the broad side of the Flatirons with his jump shot as a freshman.
Of Thorne’s first 19 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc, 18 missed. It’s a good thing the NCAA does not keep statistics for airballs or Thorne might have been listed. As a first-year player, Thorne made just 26 percent from the field, including 15.2 percent of his treys.
“Yeah, I was pretty bad, real bad,” he said, shaking his head.
Two years later, Thorne ranks fifth among Big 12 players in field-goal shooting (.512) for conference games, and the four players ahead of him are forwards or centers. He is shooting .539 from the field in all games this season, .422 from 3-point range.
Thorne comes off a career-best 30-point performance in an overtime loss to Kansas State on Saturday. He enters tonight’s 8:30 home game against Iowa State feeling good about himself.
“Dwight is doing a great job of understanding how to get good shots in our offense,” CU coach Jeff Bzdelik said Monday. “I’m proud of him.”
Bzdelik arrived in Boulder before Thorne’s sophomore season. After watching Thorne in practice, Bzdelik told the young player that he had more confidence in him than Thorne had in himself.
Thorne shot well on occasion during his second season but was inconsistent. Before this season, he watched tape of his high school games with his father. A cousin of former Texas A&M great Acie Law IV, Thorne was regarded as an excellent shooter when he was signed by then-CU coach Ricardo Patton. He had set a school record for 3-pointers at Martin High in Arlington, Texas.
“In watching my old tapes, we realized that I was bringing the ball too far back,” Thorne said. “I didn’t bring it that far back in high school. I didn’t have the correct rhythm or the correct balance. I was also rushing my shot too much.”
Thorne wasn’t the first freshman to struggle with his jump shot. Coaches say it’s a rarity when that doesn’t happen.
“In high school, you’re usually going against much slower defenders, and everything is pretty much centered around you,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. “A good shooter in high school has such free rein. He doesn’t have to think about whether it’s a good shot or a bad shot.”
“And for a freshman, it might be the first time in their career that they go through a little bit of a slump,” Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon added. “I’m sure they get frustrated.”
Thorne has another explanation for his shooting slump.
“We all wanted to do well because maybe we could help Coach Patton keep his job,” Thorne said. “There was pressure on us. I felt it. We all felt it. I was ‘wishing’ the ball to go into the basket. When it didn’t, I’d hang my head. It’s not something that I’d wish on anybody.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
