Does the referee above look familiar? Why would a former Lady Demon volleyball standout be rooting (silently) for him, along with former Lady Demon softball and volleyball coach Rickey McCalister?
That's Mike Thornton, Demon basketball player from 1989-93. "Thor" didn't play high school basketball, but he walked on to Dan Bell's first NSU team. Yes, the one that beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena.
Thornton, a Tallulah native, attended the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts. He came to NSU and earned a spot on the Demons' team.
He also earned, eventually, the heart of Lady Demon volleyball player Kim Jesiolowski, who played here from 1992-95. They are married and have three kids, two daughters and a pre-school son who joined Mom and Rickey Mac in the stands Monday night as Mike worked his first regular-season game in Prather Coliseum.
He has been here for exhibition games, but this was his first in-season contest at NSU. He did a very fine job and looked the part of a rising star in the business.
Thornton is a professor at Texas A&M. The family lives in College Station. He also puts on a summer basketball camp for kids.
He stays in touch with his Demon basketball teammates and coaches, having a steady conversation with former assistants Robert Epps and Randy Anderson. Anderson is probably coming in this summer to work the basketball camp.
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