Hands-On Teacher

Bob Thornton has ankles that have been sprained so many times they look to be the size of golf balls.

“My X-ray files are as thick as most books,” Thornton said. “It’s almost bone on bone now. Just about all the cartilage is gone.”

Thornton played eight seasons in the NBA, and thinks he could have played a few more if his ankles had held up.

But they didn’t, and Thornton had to look for a new line of work.

Thornton decided that the next best thing to playing was coaching, and says he’s enjoying his new career. He’s in his first season as an assistant at Cal State Fullerton under Bob Hawking.

“I love coaching,” Thornton said. “It’s something special for me to be able to pass along the things I’ve learned to other people. You learn a lot of little things when you play pro basketball. I played against a lot of the good big men when I was in the league, so I’ve had all those things done to me.”

This is Thornton’s first season at the Division-I level. He spent one season as an assistant at Orange Coast College after he stopped playing, then moved to Chapman as an assistant last season.

Eventually, Thornton hopes to have his own program.

“I’d like to be a head coach some day, either on the college level or the maybe even on the pro level,” he said. “I know I still have a lot to learn, but I think I’m learning it.”

Thornton, 36, was drafted in the fourth round by the New York Knicks after finishing his college career at UC Irvine. He played for the Anteaters for three season after a year at Saddleback College.

Thornton says his only regret about his pro career is that the ankle problems kept him from being as durable as he would have liked.

“But I played on some good teams for some great coaches,” he said. “It was a good experience for me. But everyone comes to the point where they have to quit for one reason or another.”

His playing career included stints with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Utah Jazz and the Washington Bullets. He played on a team that won a division title in Philadelphia.

Despite the ankle problems, Thornton said he still makes it a point to work out regularly, and occasionally will step into the Titans’ scout team lineup during practice.

“But the more half-court basketball the better now, as far as I’m concerned,” Thornton said.

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The Titans’ two freshmen from the St. Louis area--Brandon Campbell and Josh Helbig-- struggled Saturday in their homecoming against Saint Louis in Kiel Center.

Campbell, who played at Cardinal Ritter High in St. Louis, was one of three shooting for two points and had five turnovers. Helbig, who played across the Mississippi River at Belleville East in Illinois, was one of six from the field for two points. Helbig was zero of four on three-point tries.

“It’s special when a player goes back to play in front of his friends and family, but it’s a lot of pressure on them too because they want to do so well,” Hawking said. “I’m sure neither one of them was happy with the way they played. But they weren’t the Lone Rangers from that standpoint.”

Fullerton’s five-game winning streak ended in an 80-46 loss to the Billikens. All the Titans probably were affected by the quick turnaround between a game Thursday night in Fullerton and an afternoon game Saturday in St. Louis.

“I don’t want to use that as excuse for the way we played,” Hawking said. “We’ll have to do that in the Big West. We’ll have to be ready for two quick games with some travel involved.”

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Tammy De la Cruz, the former member of the Philippine national gymnastics team who competed for the Titans last season, has dropped out of school and returned home.

“I think she was somewhat homesick, and she felt like she was needed at home,” associate head coach Julie Knight said. “It was frustrating from our standpoint because we tried to help her see the value of an education here.”

Knight says the loss of De la Cruz will be cushioned by better depth than last year on the uneven bars and balance beam, two events in which she competed.