Thornton gets homecoming as California ties run strong on both sides of Sweet 16 matchup

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Duke had to pack up and travel across the country for its Sweet 16 matchup with Oregon, a journey of more than 2,500 miles that included missing an entire week of class.

For one Blue Devil, though, the trip is a particularly welcome one—a trip home.

Duke freshman Derryck Thornton was born and raised in Chatsworth, Calif., just more than an hour away from the Honda Center in Anaheim, where the Blue Devils will take on the top-seeded Ducks Thursday night for the right to go to the Elite Eight.

When the bracket was announced Selection Sunday and Duke was assigned to the West region, Thornton knew playing at home was a possibility if the Blue Devils could escape Providence, R.I., with two victories. Two nail-biters later, Duke accomplished just that, and Thornton got his homecoming game.

“I was extremely excited. It was a thought that we could come out here but I really wanted to focus on the game before, but I was extremely excited and just hoping we could get out here,” Thornton said. “It’s been great. Just kind of showing the guys around a little bit, and just being back home…it’s a different feeling.”

The Blue Devils arrived on the West Coast late Monday evening, giving them plenty of time to adjust to the time difference ahead of Thursday’s game. Their schedule did not leave much time for sightseeing or family reunions, though, and Thornton said he has just shown his teammates the lay of the land while they drive around.

Duke is no stranger to playing in front of home crowds. Freshman Brandon Ingram hails from Kinston, N.C., and plays most of his games within his home state. Fellow rookie Luke Kennard had a sizable contingent on hand when the Blue Devils traveled to Louisville, Ky., to take on the Cardinals in a game roughly two hours from his hometown of Franklin, Ohio.

But now, it is Thornton’s turn to have his own cheering section in the crowd.

“I have a decent amount of family and friends coming out to the game,” Thornton said. “I’ve been talking to them, and they’re pretty excited to come out and catch a game because all of our games are normally on the East Coast. They’re happy to come out, and I’m happy to play in front of them.”

Thornton will also see some familiar faces on the opposing sidelines in Oregon’s Jordan Bell and Tyler Dorsey, both of whom are natives of the Golden State. Bell hails from Long Beach—just a half-hour drive from Anaheim—and Dorsey calls the bright lights of Los Angeles home.

Although Thornton attended high school at Findlay Prep in Las Vegas, he played his youth hoops in California and crossed paths with both Bell and Dorsey several times. The Duke point guard said he began playing on AAU travel teams with Dorsey—who is shooting a team-best 41.8 percent from 3-point range this year for the Ducks—beginning in the fifth or sixth grade, and the two made for quite a backcourt duo.

“It was pretty young, middle school. It was very competitive, though,” Dorsey said. “I’ve known Derryck for a long time. We worked out together, played against each other, so I’m looking forward to playing against him.”

Bell—who said his primary sport was football until the beginning of high school—did not run in the same AAU circles as Taylor and Thornton, but participated in summer camps with them.

And even at that young age, it was clear to him that Thornton had the skills to be a very special player.

“He was on my team like a couple times in camps and things like that,” Bell said. “I always thought he was a great player. Growing up, I was like, ‘Oh, he’s going to be great.’”

Oregon has played in two of these pseudo-homecoming games already this season, with back-to-back road games against Pac-12 foes Southern California and UCLA to close out the regular season. Both games ended in wins for the Ducks and served as a springboard for the team on its run through the conference tournament.

Dorsey seems to relish playing in front of his family and friends, dropping a team-high 20 points against the Bruins to go along with nine boards. He followed that up with 19 points on a crisp 8-of-11 shooting as Oregon clinched the conference regular-season title with a win against the Trojans.

Bell chipped in solid performances in those games as well, combining to go 9-for-11 from the floor and is looking to turn in a signature performance in front of the home crowd to send the Blue Devils back to Durham Thursday.

“For Tyler, he seems to be playing great—when we played USC and UCLA he had some great games,” Bell said. “For me, I kind of struggle playing at home because of the nerves and I try to do too much. But hopefully it comes after a couple of games playing here and I’ll just be myself.”