CAA Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

5. Marcus Thornton

Tony Shaver’s program at William & Mary was humming right along in the mid-2010’s and Thornton was a major part of that success. A 6’4 combo guard from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, he developed into one of the CAA’s top scoring threats during his career. His first two seasons came before 2013 and he was already emerging as one of the league’s best offensive players, averaging greater than 18 points a game as a sophomore.

During his junior year, Thornton averaged 18.7 points and made 40% of his 3-pointers, helping the Tribe to a 20-win season and their first finish above .500 in four seasons. He had 28 points in a road win against Rutgers and helped lead the Tribe to the CAA title game. As a senior, he put up 20.0 points per game, with even better shooting numbers from all over the court, all while helping lead William & Mary to a CAA regular season title. Despite putting up 37 on Hofstra during the tournament, the Tribe would fall in the finals and settle for an NIT appearance to finish off Thornton’s career.

Thornton was the league’s top long-range shooter for much of his career and won CAA Player of the Year honors as a senior. His 2178 career points sit among the conference’s very best, and his shooting touch from all over the court was second to none in the early 2010’s in the league. Thornton helped manufacture a turnaround at William & Mary, found his way onto three All-CAA teams, and did plenty of great work to establish himself in the conference.