MIKE THORNTON

Steve Virgen

Mike Thornton was so intent on becoming a coach, he gave up dreams of

playing Major League Baseball so that he could someday lead a team on

a basketball court.

Ever since he was 6 years old, Thornton knew he wanted to be a

coach and a teacher. So when he was drafted by the Montreal Expos in

1969, it was an afterthought, especially since he was late-round

pick, said Thornton, who guided the Orange Coast College women’s

basketball team to its first state title last year.

“I was a much better baseball player than basketball, even though

I liked basketball better,” said Thornton, who starred in both sports

at Cal State Stanislaus. “I was drafted by the Montreal Expos. But I

knew I wanted to coach and I felt that was more of a stable

decision.”

Thornton has always had an affinity for sports, especially

baseball and basketball. He also competed in football while growing

up in Illinois. He was raised in a town called Danville, where he

became a fan of the University of Illinois and the Chicago Cubs,

teams that remain close to his heart today.

In his first two years of high school, Thornton played football,

basketball and baseball. But his family moved to California before he

became a junior and that’s when he gave up football and concentrated

on the hardwood and the diamond.

He loved playing both sports. After graduating from Magnolia High

in 1965, Thornton went to Chapman, where he accepted a split

scholarship to play basketball and baseball. But after his freshman

year, he was asked to choose between the two.

Thornton evaded the decision and transferred to Cal State

Stanislaus, where he became the only athlete in school history to

captain both the basketball and baseball teams.

After competing for the Warriors, he stayed at Stanislaus as a

graduate assistant men’s basketball coach. In 1970, he was planning

to become an assistant at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but he opted

instead to go to Santa Ana High, where he was the baseball and

basketball coach for five years.

He then went on to Marina High, where he was the assistant boys

basketball coach and where he developed a strong friendship with

Coach Steve Popovich. He also became the Vikings girls basketball

coach. Thornton started teaching and coaching at Marina in the fall

of 1975 and he remains at the school working in the special education

program.

In 1989, he was hired as the women’s basketball coach at OCC. Many

of his colleagues advised him not to take the job, but Thornton was

intrigued by the challenge and working as an adjunct coach allowed

him to keep his job at Marina.

“I hated to leave coaching at Marina,” Thornton said. “But it was

a great move.”

While at OCC, Thornton has compiled a 334-158 record in his 15

seasons at the school, including 11 seasons with at least 20 wins.

Last year, he was named the Southern Region Coach of the Year and

Orange County Coach of the Year.

“At OCC, obviously the state championship run last year was the

biggest highlight,” Thornton said. “I felt that was a

once-in-a-lifetime-type deal. Everything came together. They worked

hard and they were all Orange County kids ... They didn’t think of

themselves first; they thought of the team first.”

Last year, Thornton helped the Pirates amass a school-record 31

wins. The No. 4 seed in the regional playoffs, they surprised many by

defeating Contra Costa, 69-61, in the state title game.

“There has been a lot of other highlights at OCC,” Thornton said.

“The first year at Coast was great. At the time, Golden West had the

best team in the state. I had friends tell me, ‘Don’t go to OCC. You

won’t be able to compete with them.’ The year before I went there,

OCC was winless in conference and in my very first year, we went 26-6

and were second in the conference, 10-2. To go in the first year and

be a lot more successful than a lot of people thought we could be was

just great.”

Aside from the success on the court, Thornton has also enjoyed his

time with the athletes.

“The thing I like the most is the relationships you have with the

players,” Thornton said. “The wins are nice, but the relationships

you have with the players ... that’s the thing that keeps me in

coaching the most.”

Thornton went from his greatest season to his worst at OCC. This

past season, the Pirates went 14-15 and barely made the playoffs.

Thornton endured only his second losing season while at OCC. It was a

type of year that frustrated him.

When he got into coaching, he always told himself he would get out

when it stopped being fun. This was the first year he questioned his

future.

But Thornton will not go out like that. He’s planning to come back

and add to the success he has provided for the Pirates since 1989.

Thornton, the latest honoree of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of

Fame, lives in San Clemente. He has three children: Brian, 19, who

plays volleyball at UC Irvine, Keith, 17, who competes in volleyball

at San Clemente High, and Kelsey, who will be 10 and specializes in

water polo.