MORGANTOWN —
Rod Thorn was one of West Virginia University’s greatest two-sport athletes in its history.
As a guard in basketball, he led his team to a combined record of 70-18 in 1961-62-63 under the late coach George King. He also starred in baseball all three years. The late Steve Harrick piloted those teams to a 66-21 mark.
Together those two teams amassed an impressive record of 136-39 (.777) while Thorn was in school.
While he was born in Weirton, Thorn grew up in Princeton and attracted nationwide attention in that city’s high school. He was the state’s No. 1 basketball superstar.
Thorn was heavily recruited. He could have gone anywhere. But the West Virginia Legislature declared the youngster was a Mountain State natural resource and he decided then to attend WVU.
Thorn was a three-year all-state selection at Princeton High, and he was given No. 44 to wear on his jersey at WVU. That was the number the legendary Jerry West had worn in the previous three seasons. It now has been retired by the university.
“I did enjoy my years at WVU,” Thorn said in a recent interview. “We were good (as a basketball team). But we were not great.
“Yeah, I enjoyed it very much during my four years in Morgantown.”
He played in all 82 games as a starter, averaging 35.9 minutes per game as a Mountaineer.
He ranked No. 7 among all-time scorers with 1,785 points (21.8 points per game), No. 8 all-time in rebounding with 912 (11.1 per game), and No. 5 all-time in 30-point scoring games (17).
Thorn, who played on a freshman team in 1960, also made 690 field goals in 1,539 attempts (44.4 percent), and cashed 481 of 568 free throws (70.6 percent).
Thorn set seven school records which stood for several years.
He made four prominent All-America first teams and was elected in 1992 to the second annual class for induction into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame. He was already a member of the West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame.
A second-round draft selection in 1963, Thorn played eight years of professional basketball. That included both the ABA and three final years in the NBA.
Before leaving WVU, Thorn was chosen as the Southern Conference Athlete of the Year in 1963. He was a member of two NCAA basketball teams and also three NCAA baseball clubs.
Thorn, who’s 71 years old, has been highly respected for nearly a lifetime of administrative roles in the National Basketball Association. That included executive vice president of basketball operations for 15 years in the league.
He had started his career in coaching, then became involved with numerous organizations as a general manager, vice president and finally club president.
After serving as the top man for the New Jersey Nets for many years, he’s now in his third year as president of the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I’ve been in the NBA every year since 1963, except for two years,” Thorn said. “So I’ve been in every kind of this business and I’ve enjoyed all of it.”
Rod and wife Peggy have been married for 49 years. They currently reside in downtown Philadelphia. But they still have a home in Rye, N.Y., and one in Florida.
Mrs. Thorn spent a year at WVU but graduated from University of Detroit, one of the cities in which Rod played pro ball.
“I ended up graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in political science,” Thorn noted. That was because he was playing in Seattle for the Supersonics.
However, WVU gave him an honorary degree.
The Thorns have a son, J.J., who is a high school teacher in the Richmond, Va., area. They also have twin daughters. One works in the NBA office and the other is a lawyer who’s practicing in Washington, D.C.
WVU Sports
FURFARI COLUMN: Thorn is WVU, pro hoops great
- WVU Sports
-
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Flying WV logo draws attention outside country
Sometimes you hit a nerve, as we did a while back when we wrote about the wide reach of West Virginia University’s flying WV logo.
It has meant a lot to a lot of people. -
Seahawks’ Bruce Irvin suspended four games
Bruce Irvin, one of only two West Virginia University defensive linemen ever to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft, will miss the first four games of the 2014 National Football League season because of a failed test for performance-enhancing drugs.
-
WVU falls to Oklahoma State, 5-0
The West Virginia University baseball dropped its fifth consecutive game with a 5-0 loss to No. 16 Oklahoma State on Friday evening at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
-
Reaves rejoins Carey as an assistant coach
Mike Carey has run through a lot of assistant basketball coaches during his time at West Virginia University, so it comes as no surprise that he has started repeating assistants.
Carey announced on Friday that Sharrona Reaves has returned as an assistant on his West Virginia staff. -
HERTZEL COLUMN: Opportunity to see birth of greatness
Sometimes things happen and the significance of them isn’t fully grasped immediately. So it is with the approval of the TIFF financing for a baseball stadium just off I-79 here in Morgantown.
Obviously, this a boon for the West Virginia University baseball program of Randy Mazey, which gains instant creditability. -
Musgrave ranks among top pitchers in college baseball
West Virginia University’s redshirt sophomore left-hander Harrison Musgrave’s spectacular season has reached the pinnacle of the heights a collegiate pitcher can attain as he has been named a finalist for the College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher of the Year Award.
-
FURFARI COLUMN: Crutchfield ‘miracle man’ at West Liberty
Jim Crutchfield, who learned the value of “aggressive defense” in basketball as a player at the old Roosevelt-Wilson High School in Clarksburg, continues to parlay that play phase with others to lead the nation in scoring as well as achieve smashing success as an NCAA Division II head coach.
-
WVU drops opener at Oklahoma State
The West Virginia University baseball team was unable to overcome an early deficit and fell 7-4 in game one against No. 16 Oklahoma State on Thursday evening at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
-
Musgrave may be rested against OSU
It’s been a fun ride for West Virginia University baseball this season, coming out of nowhere to reach the final weekend with a chance to win the regular-season Big 12 championship.
But coach Randy Mazey is not allowing the Mountaineers to get carried away with that thought. -
HERTZEL COLUMN: WVU Tier 3 bidding goals are ambitious
They are re-opening the bidding at West Virginia University’s athletic department for Tier 3 media rights, but judging by the vision they have shown in putting it together, this is becoming something as ambitious, if not profitable, as the national television deals in which they have a stake.
- More WVU Sports Headlines
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Flying WV logo draws attention outside country
