Charli Turner Thorne
Current position
TitleAssistant Coach
TeamPhoenix Mercury
Biographical details
Born (1966-03-10) March 10, 1966 (age 58)
Van Nuys, California
Playing career
1984–1988Stanford
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1990Washington (grad. asst.)
1990–1993Santa Clara (asst.)
1993–1996Northern Arizona
1996–2022Arizona State
2023–presentPhoenix Mercury (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall528–334 (.613)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Pac-10 Championship 2001
Pac-10 Tournament Championship 2002
Pac-12 Championship 2016
Awards
Pac-10 Coach of the Year 2001
Pac-12 Coach of the Year 2016
Medal record
FIBA Under-21 World Championship for Women
Gold medal – first place 2007 Russia Team Competition
World University Games
Gold medal – first place 2009 Serbia Team Competition

Charli Turner Thorne (born March 10, 1966)[1] is a former head coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils women's basketball team and current assistant coach for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. She has coached for 28 seasons from 1993 to 2022. She is the winningest Sun Devil coach since the team was established and as of 2019, stood as No. 2 all-time in the Pac-10/Pac-12 for career wins.[2]

Biography

Turner Thorne studied psychology at Stanford University, where she played basketball under Tara VanDerveer. She graduated in 1988 with a bachelor's degree and later studied for a master's degree in education at the University of Washington, graduating in 1990. She is married to Will Thorne and they have three children, Conor, Liam, and Quinn. [3]

Coaching career

Turner Thorne began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Washington in 1988, then an assistant coach at Santa Clara in 1990.[4] In 1993, Turner Thorne became head coach at Northern Arizona, winning consecutive seasons in 1994-95 and 1995–96, the first time the school had accomplished this. In 1996, she moved over to become the head coach at Arizona State University. Turner Thorne has led the Arizona State women's basketball team to the NCAA Tournament 14 times.

In the 2000-01 season, the Sun Devils under Turner Thorne achieved a 20-11 overall record and its first NCAA appearance in 22 years. In the 2001-2002 season, the team achieved a record of 25-9, which matched the single-season school record for most wins at that time. ASU shared the Pac-10 title in 2001 and the inaugural Pac-10 Tournament title in 2002, the first league championships the school had achieved.

In the 2006-07 season, the Sun Devils won 31 games, including a school record 16 Pac-10 wins, which brought them to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time. At the end of the 2006-07 season, the Sun Devils ranked No. 8 in the final USA Today/ESPN coaches poll and No. 10 in the final Associated Press poll, the highest final rankings in each poll that the school had ever achieved. In the summer of 2007 Turner Thorne served as an assistant coach on USA Basketball's U-21 World Championship Team which won the gold medal at the U-21 FIBA World Championship in Moscow, Russia.[5]

In 2009 the Sun Devils made the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons under Turner Thorne's leadership. Having achieved 26 wins in the 2008-09 season, Turner Thorne became one of three Pac-10 coaches alongside University of Washington head coach Chris Gobrecht and Stanford University head coach Tara VanDerveer to have led their respective schools to five or more consecutive 20-win seasons.

During the summer of 2009, Turner Thorne served as the head coach for the USA Women's World University Games Team which won the gold medal at the 2009 World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia, having won all seven of their games. It was Turner Thorne's second time working with USA Basketball.[5][6]

In July 2009, Turner Thorne became vice president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) Executive Committee.[7]

For the 2011–12 basketball season, Turner Thorne took a leave of absence from her coaching duties and returned for the 2012–13 season.[8] On March 3, 2022, Turner Thorne announced her coaching retirement. [9]

Turner Thorne returned to the bench in 2023, when she was hired by the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA on June 30, 2023.[10] She became an assistant coach for the Mercury, reuniting with former Sun Devil assistant coach Nikki Blue who became the interim head coach.

Year-by-year results

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (Big Sky Conference) (1993–1996)
1993–94 Northern Arizona 12–15 6–8 T-4th
1994–95 Northern Arizona 14–12 6–8 5th
1995–96 Northern Arizona 14–13 6–8 5th
Northern Arizona: 40–40 (.500) 18–24 (.429)
Arizona State Sun Devils (Pacific-10 Conference) (1996–2011)
1996–97 Arizona State 9–19 3–15 9th
1997–98 Arizona State 10–17 6–12 T-7th
1998–99 Arizona State 12–15 6–12 T-6th
1999–00 Arizona State 14–15 7–11 7th WNIT 1st Round
2000–01 Arizona State 20–11 12–6 T-1st NCAA First Round
2001–02 Arizona State 25–9 12–6 T-2nd NCAA Second Round
2002–03 Arizona State 16–14 7–11 8th WNIT 2nd Round
2003–04 Arizona State 17–12 11–7 T-3rd WNIT 1st Round
2004–05 Arizona State 24–10 12–6 T-2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2005–06 Arizona State 25–7 14–4 2nd NCAA Second Round
2006–07 Arizona State 31–5 16–2 2nd NCAA Elite Eight
2007–08 Arizona State 22–11 14–4 3rd NCAA Second Round
2008–09 Arizona State 26–9 15–3 T-2nd NCAA Elite Eight
2009–10 Arizona State 18–14 9–9 5th WNIT 2nd Round
2010–11 Arizona State 20–11 11–7 3rd NCAA First Round
Arizona State Sun Devils (Pac-12 Conference) (2012–present)
2012–13 Arizona State 13–18 5–13 9th
2013–14 Arizona State 23–10 11–7 4th NCAA Second Round
2014–15 Arizona State 29–6 15–3 2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2015–16 Arizona State 26–7 16–2 T-1st NCAA Second Round
2016–17 Arizona State 20–13 9–9 5th NCAA Second Round
2017–18 Arizona State 22–13 10–8 6th NCAA Second Round
2018–19 Arizona State 22–11 10–7 5th NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2019–20 Arizona State 20–11 10–8 T-5th Postseason not held due to COVID-19
2020–21 Arizona State 12-12 6-9 9th WNIT 1st Round
2021–22 Arizona State 12-14 4-9 9th
Arizona State: 488–294 (.624) 247–190 (.565)
Total: 528–334 (.613)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 22 Sep 2015.
  2. ^ "Sun Devils Biography of Charli Turner Thorne". Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  3. ^ Charli Turner Thorne Gives Birth To Third Son Tuesday Morning December 30, 2003 Archived April 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Orton, Kathy (June 19, 1996). "Basketball junkie lands job at ASU". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Arizona State University Athletics Official Website". ASU Athletics. Archived from the original on 2009-08-25. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  6. ^ "TWENTY-FIFTH WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES -- 2009". www.usab.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  7. ^ Southwestern University RUDER REAPPOINTED AS WBCA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER July 7, 2009 retrieved 23 October 2009
  8. ^ Metcalfe, Jeff (May 2, 2011). "Charli Turner Thorne to take leave of absence from ASU basketball". Arizona Republic. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  9. ^ "Arizona State's Turner Thorne retires: 'It's time'". 4 March 2022.
  10. ^ @phoenixmercury (June 30, 2023). "An Arizona Women's Basketball icon is taking a seat on our bench. Legendary @SunDevilWBB Coach Charli Turner Thorne joins the Phoenix Mercury as an Assistant Coach on Nikki Blue's staff!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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