Burnt Orange Nation, a Texas Longhorns community

The news broke on Twitter several hours ago, but it wasn't until his press conference at 11 am CT that 2010 Atlanta Westlake forward Marcus Thornton announced his intentions to play basketball for the home-state Georgia Bulldogs. Texas was relatively late getting in on his recruitment, but losing Thornton most likely means that the Longhorns will not add another player to the 2010 class and will finally need to get some production from the triumvirate of Clint Chapman, Alexis Wangmene, and Matt Hill, hardly a guarantee. It also puts more pressure on Gary Johnson and Tristan Thompson to log major minutes, replace the production of Dexter Pittman and Damion James and avoid foul trouble. It's obviously not the end of the world, but losing Thornton hurts because Texas needed another frontcourt player who could come in and contribute immediately as a rebounder and finisher around the rim, exactly the skills that Thornton will now be showing off for the Bulldogs. Best of luck to Marcus in Athens.

The only remaining target on the 2010 radar for Texas basketball is Atlanta Westlake forward Marcus Thornton as the Longhorns look to add another big to the class to establish some frontcourt depth. Thornton will announce his decision on Wednesday at noon. His four finalists are Alabama, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Texas. Conventional wisdom has Thornton staying in the south (Alabama or Georgia), but the Longhorns have a fighting chance after Thornton seemed to enjoy his visit to Austin several weeks ago.

The 2010 Texas basketball class got a major boost on Friday with the commitment from Cory Joseph, but the finishing touch would be adding another big to the group. The top target appears to be 6-7 forward Marcus Thornton from Atlanta, the reigning Mr. Basketball in the state and a former Clemson commit who was released from his LOI when Oliver Purnell left. After visiting Alabama today, Thornton will head to Austin this weekend to visit with the Texas coaching staff.