Former Gamecocks great Sindarius Thornwell finds new basketball home overseas
South Carolina men’s basketball great Sindarius Thornwell is heading to Europe.
The 26-year-old guard signed a deal with ratiopharm Ulm, a team based in Ulm, Germany, that competes in the country’s top professional Basketball Bundesliga league. The team announced the deal Thursday.
“Let’s goooo,” USC head coach Frank Martin tweeted about the news. “Kick tail, WIN and feed your family. We got your people covered back home!”
Thornwell will make the trek overseas after last playing for the Orlando Magic in the 2020-21 campaign. Between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans, Thornwell played in 21 NBA games last season, and he has played 160 games and averaged 2.5 points in four seasons in the league.
Originally drafted by Milwaukee with the 48th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Thornwell rose to national prominence during the Gamecocks’ historic 2017 Final Four run. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 21.4 points per game his senior year at USC and played 132 career games for Martin’s Gamecocks.
Thornwell attended USC’s Nov. 4 exhibition against Benedict and also played in the SC Summer Pro-Am, along with current Gamecocks players.
Over the summer, Thornwell said his mentality had changed after years in the NBA.
“I’m just hooping now,” Thornwell said in July. “Like I’m done trying to prove people this, or prove that, prove this. I’m getting to a point where I’m just hooping for my happiness, for my own self.
“I feel like I ain’t got nothing to prove. I’m just playing. When I have fun that’s when I play my best.”
