College Commitment: Braden Thorn (2019 Sherwood HS)
A talented multi-sport athlete in both basketball and baseball, Braden Thorn was getting the chance to do both at the college level. The lanky 6-foot-5, 180-pound wing/pitcher from Sherwood wasn’t originally on planning on deciding just where he would do that until after baseball season. But the more he thought about things, Thorn knew where he wanted to go and on Monday he announced that he would stay close to home to hoop and pitch for Linfield.
“I was back and forth between Linfield and the University of Puget Sound but the deciding factor was continuing living in a community-involved environment,” Thorn said. “I really loved growing up in Sherwood where the community is super involved in the basketball team and my life in general. I want to continue doing that in McMinnville.”
Being able to stay local was definitely a big factor in Thorn’s choice. But there was more to it as well. “I’m really intrigued with the athletic history of the school – there’s been a ton of success in both basketball and baseball,” Thorn said. “I was on campus recently with the basketball team at an open gym and a lot of the guys are really good basketball players and they’re looking to win a league championship next year and that would be a big thing to look forward to.”
“And hopefully I’ll bring some success to the baseball team as well,” Thorn continued. “They’ve won three national championships and they’ve had a ton of success as a whole as well. I really like the pitching coach, Coach Cunningham – he was one of Coach (Rahim) Tufts good friends from high school, so there was a bit of a connection there. They’re struggling a bit this year but next year I think I can help them bring them success on the mound. Playing for a winning program is a good reason to go to school.”
On the court, Thorn plans on working on his ball-handling and his defense to prepare for next year. And on the mound, he continues to pitch for Sherwood to finish out his senior season. He’s excited about the opportunity to keep doing the things he’s done all his life at the next level.
“I’ve always loved playing both sports as a kid so I figured why stop,” he continued. “I’ve done it my whole life and I want to do it in college too. I think I can have great success doing both.”
Thorn is currently ranked as the #37 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2019 rankings.