Junior Scotty Thurman, nicknamed the “Ruston Rifle,” declared for the NBA Draft, forgoing his final season of eligibility with the Razorbacks.
His decision came six days after his classmate and 1995 SEC player of the year Corliss Williamson declared for the draft, and two weeks after the the Razorbacks lost 89-78 to UCLA in the championship game of the NCAA Tournament.
Williamson was drafted by the Sacramento Kings 13th overall.
Thurman was not taken in the NBA Draft and went on to play one season in the CBA, then overseas in Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Cyrpus, Yugoslavia and Jordan. He also played for the Arkansas Rimrockers of the ABA in 2004-05.
With 1,650 points, Thurman ranked ninth on Arkansas' all-time scoring list at the time he declared. His 267 made 3-pointers were a school record at the time.
Thurman is best known for hitting a critical three-point shot in the final minute of Arkansas’ 76-72 win over Duke in the 1994 national championship game. It was one of six times that Thurman gave the Razorbacks the go-ahead points in the final 67 seconds of a game.
Thurman was later on staff at Arkansas from 2010 through 2018 as director of student-athlete development and assistant coach for John Pelphrey and Mike Anderson. He was named head coach at Little Rock Parkview on July 26, 2019.
Matt Jones contributed