Three Salisbury Products Commit

New England Recruiting Report | Friday, May 8th, 2015

Salisbury basketball players Jordan Thornton, Ethan Feldman and Tyrell Arnum have made verbal commitments to continue their educations and play basketball at the next level.  

Thornton is heading to Merrimack College, where he'll join Choate post-graduate guard Troy McLaughlin, in the Warriors' 2015 recruiting class, while Feldman is heading to the NESCAC to play for Tufts and Arnum returning close to home to star for Eastern Connecticut State University.

When Thornton came to Salisbury for a post-graduate year this past September, he was relatively unknown in the hoops world.  The 6’7”, 230 center quickly established himself as a force around the basket and, as a result, the Dumfries, Virginia product recently accepted a scholarship to division II Merrimack College.  A solid student, Thornton turned down offers from several NESCAC schools based on the belief that he could get a quality education and play basketball at a high level with the Warriors.  Thornton averaged 10.5 points and 7.3 rebounds for Salisbury before a broken bone in his foot ended his season in January.  

“He just turned 18 and has only been playing basketball for a little over three years.  His best basketball is clearly ahead of him,” Salisbury head coach Jeff Ruskin said. “Merrimack will be a great fit for Jordan.  They are a solid academic institution and he is an honor student with several AP credits in place.”

Feldman is another strong student and he’s heading to Tufts next year following his acceptance to the NESCAC program. After dominating the New York City private school league for three years at Packer Collegiate School, Feldman reclassified as a junior last year at Salisbury.  The 6’3” sharp shooter averaged 16.7 points per game for the Knights and shot 47% behind the arc while twice earning all-NEPSAC Class A Third Team honors.

“Ethan has been a special type of kid for us.  He came from a New York City private school league which he dominated.  He could have remained at his school and ben the all-time leading scorer.  He chose to walk away from that and be part of something bigger,” Ruskin said.  “Always a great shooter, he developed a more well-rounded game and became a scorer who could attack from anywhere on the court, not just beyond the arc.”

Arnum came to Salisbury for a post-graduate year after helping to lead East Catholic High School to a CIAC state championship last year. He was a consistent scorer and rebounder for the injury-plagued Knights this season and capped off the year by committing to Eastern Connecticut State University.  A versatile 6’5” wing, Arnum was All-New England Class A Honorable Mention after averaging 15.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

“Tyrell came in and did everything we asked of him.  He was able to score from many spots all over the floor.  When Thornton went down with his foot injury, Tyrell became a force inside,” Ruskin said.  “In the season finale against Suffield, he scored 22 points and hauled in 20 rebounds.  He also ran the point for us on several occasions.”

This was also the final season on the Salisbury sidelines for Ruskin, who has had a storied tenure at the helm of the Knights’ program, including the 2012 NEPSAC Class A championship.