Grand Valley State University Athletics

Matt Thornton began his career at Grand Valley State on the hardwood, but eventually found his way to the baseball field where he became a dominating left-handed pitcher. Thornton notched 102 career strikeouts and averaged a GVSU career-record 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Matt was the 22nd pick in the first round of the 1998 Major League Baseball amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners. Thornton was selected to the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star team, becoming the first former Grand Valley State student-athlete to participate in any major sport all-star game. Matt is the only pitcher in the American League to rank in the top-15 of holds each of the last five years and he currently ranks 18th among active MLB pitchers in career holds with 134. Thornton logged 3.1 innings in the 2008 MLB playoffs for the Chicago White Sox with an ERA of 0.00. Matt appeared in 79 career basketball games for GVSU, averaging 5.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. He shot 50.0 percent from the floor (180-360) for his career and the 1996-97 squad finished 23-6 and advanced to the NCAA DII basketball tournament.