Syracuse Adds MEAC Player of the Year Jayla Thornton as Transfer

The Orange just added a significant piece to its backcourt.

Mike McAllister | Apr 6, 2021

Syracuse Adds MEAC Player of the Year Jayla Thornton as Transfer /

Syracuse women’s basketball added Howard graduate transfer guard Jayla Thornton to its roster for next season, the program announced on Tuesday. Thornton was the MEAC Player of the Year last season. She is also the conference’s all-time leading three point shooter.

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More from a Syracuse Athletics press release:

Thornton was named MEAC Player of the Year and helped Howard to the No. 1 seed in the 2021 Air Force Reserve MEAC Basketball Tournament. The Bison won the regular season divisional championship and posted a 15-4 overall record and went 10-2 in conference play.

In her four years at Howard, Thornton averaged 11.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. She appeared in 106 games and earned 78 starts, which included starting every game for the last two seasons. Thornton holds the MEAC record for 3-pointers made with 275 during her four-year career with the Bison. She made a career-best 97 threes as a sophomore and shot 37 percent from downtown that season. Thornton scored in double figures 12 times and amassed 20+ points on five occasions including a season high 29 points in a win over Richmond on Dec. 22, 2020.

The 5-foot-10 guard from Newark, N.J., is a 2017 graduate of Newark Tech. She was named Bison Blue Carpet Awards Rookie of the Year after her freshman season and was named to the Dean's List. She is a three-time honoree on the MEAC Commissioner's All-Academic Team and has been named to the MEAC All-Conference Team three times. In 2018-19 she was ranked the No. 3 HBCU Women's Basketball Player by "The Undefeated."

Published Apr 6, 2021

MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting. EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans. After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years. Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports. Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College.