South Carolina Basketball: Sindarius Thornwell signs NBA deal

Former South Carolina basketball star Sinduarius Thornwell has signed with the New Orleans Pelicans as a substitute player.

On Monday, the New Orleans Pelicans announced the signing of former Gamecock great Sindarius Thornwell.  Thornwell will be added as a substitute player for the remainder of the ’19-’20 season.

After being drafted in the second round of the 2017 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, he was immediately traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.  In LA, he averaged 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds per contest over two seasons.  He then landed in Cleveland, but was waived ahead of the start of last year.

The majority of his ’19-’20 season was spent in the G League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, where the forward put up 9.2 points per game in 40 appearances.

Thornwell now joins a Pelicans roster that includes Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson.  He’ll be replacing an unspecified player on the current roster.  That player may be Darius Miller who’s recovering from an Achilles injury, and may not be able to travel to Orlando when the season resumes.

As a Gamecock, Thornwell played four seasons under head coach Frank Martin, earning SEC Player of the Year honors as a senior.  That senior campaign was one of program’s best ever.  Thornwell led the team in points, rebounds, steals, assists, and minutes played.  He was spectacular in South Carolina’s Final Four run, averaging 23.6 points per game and leading the Gamecocks to victories over Marquette, Duke, Baylor, and Florida.

For his career, Thornwell scored 1,941 points, which ranks third in school history behind only Alex English (1,972) and BJ McKie (2,119).  He becomes the second former Gamecock to sign an NBA deal in recent weeks, as his old teammate PJ Dozier inked a deal with the Nuggets in late June.