The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) has a new sheriff in town, and his name is Brian Thornton.
Thornton heads to the WAC after spending the last year as the associate commissioner for basketball at the American Athletic Conference (AAC). He was the primary administrator for both men’s and women’s basketball at the AAC.
“I would like to thank the Western Athletic Conference Board of Directors for the opportunity to lead this historic conference during this unprecedented time in collegiate athletics.,” said Thornton. “While the WAC name is certainly a storied one, the current mix of institutions share a common bond as growth-focused with a strong desire to compete at the highest level while also providing an elite student-athlete experience.”
Thornton replaces Jeff Hurd, who spent 37 years overall with the conference, the last 10 as its commissioner. He ends his tenure on December 31, 2021.
“I would like to start by thanking Jeff Hurd for his incredible 30-plus years of dedicated service to the WAC. He has always been there through the good and the challenging times,” said Grand Canyon University President Brian Mueller. “Brian is the perfect person to take the rebuilt WAC forward. His knowledge of NCAA athletics and his strong strategic view of the future is very impressive, and we all look forward to building a very bright future together.”
Thornton was an outstanding student-athlete during his college career.
He started his career at Vanderbilt and then moved to Xavier, where he was the two-time Atlantic-10 student-athlete of the year (2005, 2006) while playing basketball for the Musketeers. He received his BA and MBA from Xavier as well.
Thornton also played professionally in Germany before moving into collegiate athletics administration, which included two years with the NCAA as an assistant director for basketball development.
The accolades for Brian Thornton flowed in from his former boss after his appointment was announced.
“Brian Thornton is an outstanding choice as the next commissioner of the WAC,” said AAC commissioner Mike Aresco. “He is a rising star and has been extremely effective in the administration of our men’s and women’s basketball and has provided valuable insight and operational expertise for our coaches, administrators and conference staff on a wide range of matters.”
Congrats to soon-to-be WAC commissioner Brian Thornton.
