Scotty Thurman (born November 10, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, perhaps best known as the Arkansas Razorbacks'

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

who hit the high-arcing go-ahead three-pointer with 50.7 seconds left in the 1994 NCAA Basketball Championship game, helping to secure Arkansas' only national title to date in a 76–72 victory over the Duke Blue Devils. That shot is referred to as the "Shot heard 'round Arkansas".

College career

Thurman was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 1993, and was First Team All-SEC in 1994 and 1995. He also received some All-American recognition from the Associated Press and the Basketball Times in 1994 and 1995. Most Razorback fans consider him to be one of the greatest players in school history. His nickname was the "Ruston Rifle", making reference to Thurman's hometown, and his shooting prowess. After leading Arkansas to the National Championship game in 1995, Thurman, along with teammate and future

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player Corliss Williamson, left college early to make himself available for the

1995 NBA draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vancouve ...

. His agent and coach had told him that he would be a first round pick, and many fans and analysts agreed with this; surprisingly, he was not drafted. He tried out unsuccessfully with the New Jersey Nets before settling with the CBA's

Shreveport Storm Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is th ...

(now defunct) in 1995–96.

Professional career

While not making the

, Thurman played pro basketball in foreign countries including Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon and

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

, and played for the

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's professional Arkansas RimRockers in their inaugural season. In 2005, Thurman was with Fastlink of the Jordanian basketball league. Prior to that, he was signed with Riyadi Beirut of the Lebanese league. He is considered the best foreign player of all time in the Macedonian Basketball League.

Coaching career

Thurman developed a business career with Russ Phillips. He was the director of real estate for Cypress Properties, Inc., in Little Rock. Thurman was named the Director of Student-Athlete Development for men's basketball at the University of Arkansas, and was also the color analyst for the radio broadcasts of Razorback games. In April 2016, Thurman was named an assistant head coach for the Razorbacks by head coach Mike Anderson. Anderson was fired by the university after the 2018–19 season, and Thurman was not retained by the new head coach, Eric Musselman.

References

External links

Eurobasket.com ProfileProBallers.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurman, Scotty 1974 births Living people Al Riyadi Club Beirut basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Jordan American expatriate basketball people in Lebanon American expatriate basketball people in North Macedonia American men's basketball players APOEL B.C. players Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball coaches Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball players Arkansas RimRockers players Basketball coaches from Louisiana Basketball players from Louisiana Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Dafnis B.C. players Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Keravnos B.C. players Sagesse SC basketball players Shooting guards Shreveport Storm players Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players Small forwards Sportspeople from Ruston, Louisiana Zain Club basketball players