Gamecocks’ Thornwell on the rise in mock draft

A week after South Carolina senior wing Sindarius Thornwell made his first appearance in NBAdraft.net’s projections, he took another leap up.

Coming off a dominant week, Thornwell rose from No. 58 in the mock draft to No. 45, a pick Houston currently holds. Gamecocks point guard P.J. Dozier also moved up from No. 27 to No. 25 and the Brooklyn Nets.

Thornwell posted 44 points and 21 rebounds in a four-overtime loss to Alabama, a game where he needed to guard centers in the late going, and then scored 28 on 15 shots in a win at Mississippi State. He leads the Gamecocks in points (19.8), rebounds (7.2), steals (2.2) per game, and comes in second in assists (2.8) and blocks (1.0).

Dozier had a rough week, shooting 29 percent and hitting only two of his eight free throws. But the second-year player still has next-level size at 6-foot-7 and is averaging 14 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Gamecocks’ Thornwell on the rise in mock draft."