New Threads for a New Team: Butler Transfers Relish Chance to Play for Same Coach

By Chris Lachenmaier
Staff writer
IG: @ChrisTakesLoss

When it comes to change, moving from town to town, the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team has it locked.

With several players and coaching staff coming from Butler, the roster expands with bonds built from the ground up.

Jaquez Thornton, a transfer guard from Butler, said he is happy to get things started as a Blue Dragon with some of his coaching and roster from Butler.

Adapting to Hutch was new to Thornton.

“At first, it was rough coming in, but adapting to our new teammates, it was tough because we have two new teammates from Butler and teammates that already played for Hutch,” Thornton said.

With that said, Hutch has three NJCAA national titles for basketball, so the bar is raised a bit higher for these players.

With that said, players experience more stress with the higher level of basketball at the HutchCC level.

“It’s way more professional over here I would say, some things that are tolerated at other schools aren’t tolerated here,” Thornton said.

Coming into a winning culture is nice but it comes with its downsides.

“When you step out into the arena, in front of thousands of fans, you are expected to win, so the bar was most definitely raised from last year,” Thornton said.

With that bar raised, Thornton has excelled in basketball as a Blue Dragon. With only eight games played as a Blue Dragon, Thornton has shot 86.7% from the free throw line, 44% from the 3-point line, and is averaging 14.6 points per game.

“I can tell you that these next 23 games are gonna be a whole different Blue Dragon team than what you have seen so far,” Thornton said. “We’re gonna definitely bring a title.”

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