Corny Thompson

Corny Thompson

No. 25
Power forward
Personal information
Date of birth	February 5, 1960 (1960-02-05) (age 51)
Place of birth	Middletown, Connecticut
Nationality	American
High school	Middletown (Middletown, Connecticut)
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
College	Connecticut (1978–1982)
NBA Draft	1982 / Round: 3 / Pick: 50th overall
Selected by the Dallas Mavericks
Pro career	1982–1996
Career history
As player:
1982–1983	Dallas Mavericks
1983–1984	Detroit Spirits (CBA)
1984–1990	Varese (Italy)
1990–1994	Joventut Badalona (Spain)
1994–1996	León (Spain)
As coach:
2011–present	Trotamundos de Carabobo (Venezuela)
Career highlights and awards
Spanish League Finals MVP (1991) Euroleague Champion (1995)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Cornelius "Corny" Allen Thompson (born February 5, 1960, in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American professional basketball player. He was a 6'8" (203 cm) 225 lb (102 kg) power forward who occasionally also played the center position. Thomson was a member of the Joventut Badalona team that reached a Euroleague final in 1992 and lifted the trophy in 1994.

Early life

Corny started playing basketball because people suggested that he play because he was tall. He was about 6'5" before he got to High School.^[1] He wasn't serious about it until Middle School. From then on, every year, Corny progressed, went to camp and became a better player.

High school

Corny attended Middletown High School in Middletown, Connecticut. In his freshman season, Corny was too good for the freshman team so he was promoted up to the Varsity team. The Varsity coach was Tom Labella. The team lost 5 or 6 games that year. In his sophomore through senior seasons the team won 76 games in a row. That record has still not been broken. The team won three State Championships and was ranked in the top 25 basketball teams in the country. Corny was the captain in the 1976, 1977, 1978 seasons (sophomore-senior). Corny still holds many records at Middletown High School.^[2]

College

North Carolina, Virginia, Princeton and UConn were the schools Corny narrowed his decision down to.^[3] Corny liked the idea of staying close to home and he thought there would be advantages to being close to home. At Connecticut he was coached by Dom Perno. In his freshman season Corny started in every game, and the Huskies made the NCAA Tournament. Corny led the team in scoring all four years at UConn and finished with 1,810 points, and 1,017 rebounds.^[4] Corny graduated in 1982 with a degree in Business

Pro career

Thompson was the 4th pick in the third round (50th overall) of the 1982 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks and played 44 games with them in the 1982-83 season, averaging 2.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. During the summer prior to his second year with the Mavericks, he suffered a knee injury, after which he was released from the team. Corny worked hard to get healthy and played basketball in Italy for Pallacanestro Varese in the Italian league for six years. It is when he played in the Spanish ACB League for a great Joventut Badalona team between 1990 and 1994 that he reached his full potential though, making it to the Euroleague final in 1992 and winning the title in 1994.

References

1. ^ http://www.uconnhooplegends.com/menslegends/ThompsonCorny.html
2. ^ http://www.middletowncthalloffame.com/2006/2006.htm
3. ^ http://www.uconnhooplegends.com/menslegends/ThompsonCorny.html
4. ^ http://www.uconnhuskies.com/datadump/MBasketball/2009/Media_Guide/UConn_103-118.pdf

External links

• NBA stats @ basketballreference.com
• Fibaeurope.com profile

Persondata
Name	Thompson, Corny
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 5, 1960
Place of birth	Middletown, Connecticut
Date of death
Place of death