University of Texas Arlington Athletics

Bringing a wealth of experience as a former professional player and collegiate coach, Arlington native Dwight Thorne II completed his second season as an assistant coach with the UT Arlington men’s basketball program in 2022-23.

UTA went 11-21 overall and 6-12 in the Western Athletic Conference in 2022-23, and went through a head coaching change with six regular-season games remaining. Despite that, the Mavs finished the year ranked 18th nationally in offensive rebounds per game at 12.7. Individually, Shemar Wilson was 9th in the country with 3.6 offensive boards per contest.

Chendall Weaver was named Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year – UTA’s first league Freshman of the Year since Roge’r Guignard claimed the Southland Conference’s award in 2007. Weaver averaged 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2 assists over 32 games, starting the last 25 contests of the year.
 
The Mavs had two NET Quad 2 victories to tie a single-year program record. UTA also had two road wins over NCAA Tournament teams from 2021-22: 66-55 at New Mexico State on Jan. 14 and 68-63 at San Francisco on Dec. 19.

In his first season with UTA in 2021-22, Thorne II helped coach through considerable roster turnover but blended the Mavericks together in conference play to start 4-1 after facing one of the most challenging non-league schedules in the nation.
 
UTA had the 13th-hardest non-conference strength of schedule in 2021-22, and that prefaced a tough Sun Belt slate as every single one of the Mavs’ losses came by 10 points or less and only by an average of 5.6. UTA set a single-season program record by having six games go to overtime – two shy of tying the all-time NCAA record.
 
Thorne II was instrumental in coaching David Azore to an all-league season in which he was named to the Sun Belt All-Conference First Team and NABC All-District First Team. Azore led the Sun Belt in scoring in conference games at 23.9 – nearly five points better than anyone else – and 19.9 for the year overall, which ranked 20th in the nation.
 
A standout at Arlington Martin High School from 2002-06, Thorne began his time with UTA on May 17, 2021, after spending the previous five years as a member of the Denver men’s basketball staff, including the final two as an assistant coach. Prior to his time with the Summit League member, Thorne II served as a graduate assistant with Georgia Tech for the 2015-16 season.
 
Before getting into coaching, Thorne II played professionally oversees for three years in Europe. A 2010 graduate of Colorado, Thorne II finished his four-year career with the Buffaloes on their top-50 all-time scoring list and tied for the 9th-most games played in program history with 117.
 
Thorne II joined the Denver staff in 2016 as the Pioneers’ Director of Operations, which is a role he served in for three years before being promoted to assistant coach in advance of the 2019-20 season. While with Georgia Tech as a grad assistant for the 2015-16 campaign, Thorne II was instrumental in helping the Yellow Jackets post a 21-15 overall record and reaching the NIT Quarterfinals.
 
Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Thorne II spent a couple of years in the private business sector after a three-year professional playing career. He began his career with PS Karlsruhe in Germany for the 2010-11 season before spending some time in the NBA Development League prior to returning to Europe and playing two years in Athens as part of Greece’s top league. Thorne II wrapped up his professional career in Zadar, Croatia.
 
During his four-year career with Colorado, Thorne II – who served as a team captain – scored 750 points, grabbed 234 rebounds, issued 160 assists, recorded 80 steals and shot 81 percent from the free-throw line. While with the Buffaloes, Thorne II was one of 10 D-I players selected to participate on an Athletes In Action team for a one-week competitive international tour against teams in Poland and Germany during the summer of 2009.
 
Born in Dallas, Thorne II became the first player in Arlington Martin history to play on the varsity team all four years. An All-District and All-Region performer, Thorne II averaged 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists per game as a junior before posting averages of 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists per contests as a senior.
 
DWIGHT THORNE II FILE
2021-23: Assistant Coach, UT Arlington
2019-21: Assistant Coach, Denver
2016-19: Director of Operations, Denver
2015-16: Graduate Assistant, Georgia Tech
2013-15: Private Business Sector
2010-13: Professional Playing Career

Education/Playing Career
2006-10: University of Colorado
2002-06: Arlington Martin High School