Landon Buford
Ohio State commitment Bruce Thornton is a top 25 prospect in the 2022 class, according to Rivals.com and 247Sports.com. Despite being ranked in high regard by those platforms, he is not in the top 60 on ESPN’s list.
If you asked his The Skills Academy coach Julian Barfield “he’s a winner.”
“Do you want the guy that can control your team and do everything or do you want the guy who’s going to put up gaudy numbers?” Julian Barfield, Thornton’s coach at The Skills Academy, said. “He’s like, ‘No, I didn’t have the off-the-rim dunk like the other person had who had 25, but guess what? I won.’ ”
Thornton’s trainer Mark Edwards recently talked about working with him since the seventh grade.
“I got a hold of Bruce, I think the first time we worked out when he was in the seventh grade. He came through one of my good friends is his godfather and mentor Adam brought him through for a few workouts and the kid thought I was crazy. Because I was yelling at kids pushing them and said let’s go,” said Edwards.
“Then his freshman year, we did a lot of work and regularly talked about the game off and on. He is so ready mentally and physically that he will be a surprise, a shocker, especially when he gets to college at Ohio State. He is kind of underrated to me, and the crazy thing the guys a lot of the guys ranked ahead of him. He has locked them down and beat them head to head. So, he is someone that people need to pay attention to.”
If you are unfamiliar with Mark Edwards, his work with athletes is legendary. Over the last 26 years, he has helped over 300 scholarship athletes, including Jalen Green. Green is a top-five pick in the upcoming draft next month.
