101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
free throws attempted (496), scoring (1,810 points) and
rebounds (1,017).
Thompson’s next logical step was the NBA, but as
in many other cases, he landed on the wrong team at
the wrong time. He was selected by Dallas in the third
round of the 1980 draft, but the team already had Mark
Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Pat Cummings and Brad
Davis. Thompson didn’t earn the trust of coach Dick
Motta and after barely 20 games, with an average of
3 points, he had to look for options outside Dallas. He
played one year in the CBA with the Detroit Spirits,
where his 15 points and 10 rebounds opened European
doors for him.
The best decision for Corny Thompson was signing
with Varese, a team with a name, tradition and great
players in the past. Between 1984 and 1990 Corny
spent six years in Varese. He played 211 games and
scored 4,704 points (22.3 ppg) while shooting 58% on
two-pointers and 42% on threes. That’s not to mention
his 9.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. His best
scoring average was 24.7 points in 1986-87. His personal
highs were 39 points against Tracer Milano and
22 rebounds against Desio, both in 1987.
However, something was missing: titles. Varese was
not as strong as it used to be. It reached the finals, but
the titles slipped away. In his first European final, the
Korac Cup against Milano on March 21, 1985, in Brussels,
Varese lost 91-78 with only 8 points by Corny. Russ
Schoene was unstoppable for Milano with 33 points. In
the Italian League, Varese lost the final series in 1989-
90 against Scavolini, coached by a young Sergio Scariolo.
Despite his 27 points and 13 rebounds in the third
game and 26 plus 15 in the fourth, Thompson could
not help Varese claim the title. That made him want to
switch teams in order to win trophies.
Badalona, the perfect destination
Corny’s decision to leave Varese coincided with the
construction of a great team at Joventut. Coached by
Real Madrid legend Lolo Sainz, that team had a strong
core of Spanish players, with Jordi Villacampa, Rafa
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