By Justin Kies
Red-shirt freshman Zach Thornhill has been battling injuries most of his time here at UNO, but his teammates and fans know he is well worth the wait. Coming out of St James academy in Kansa, Thornhill was crowned the Eight-Ten Varsity Missouri/Kansas All-star slam dunk champion as a Senior.
“The first time I dunked a basketball was actually sophomore year of high school,” said Thornhill.
He transformed from 5″ 9′ to 6″ 2′ in just one year and so did his game.
“It was cool, I mean, it was something I’ve never done before. So I mean, I knew I had something in my back pocket for it so I never showed any of the dunks that I did, really.” Thornhill said.
In his first ever dunk contest he casually posted a perfect score. Thornhill received plenty of attention coming out of high school, but now as a member of UNO basketball, Thornhill and company look to avenge last years’ heart-break.
The Mavericks fell just one game shy of their first ever NCAA tournament berth after they lost to South Dakota in the Summit League conference championship, 87 to 73.
“I mean at the end of this season I see us in the actual tournament. I think we have real high expectations for ourselves having a tough year last year. But coming back we got a really good locker room, we got a lot of good pieces and I think if we just stay the course I think uh, expectations are unlimited for us,” said Thornhill.
After beating North Dakota this past Sunday, the Mavericks are now 13 and 9 overall, 7 and 2 in conference play, and are in great position for this year’s Summit League conference tournament. Thornhill is still dealing with nagging injuries but looks forward to a return to full health before the post season.
