Feeling a bit misled after being passed over again and again and again by teams that had given him reason to believe he was high on their shopping list, Thornton quickly came to peace with his NBA Draft fate. By the time the roll call ended, the Florida State forward was all smiles again. He realized that being selected 14th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers wasn’t such a bad thing, after all.

“Oh man, I feel real good about it now,” said Thornton Friday afternoon. “I really thought I’d go higher. But once I sat down and looked at it, it’s a good team for me to go to. I like their style. They have a very open game and I think I can easily come in and contribute right away and showcase my skills in the type of offense that they run.”

Thornton has only had brief conversations with Los Angeles Clippers officials, including director of basketball operations Elgin Baylor and head coach Mike Dunleavy, but he’ll be in Los Angeles for a Monday press conference. After that, he’ll participate in a mid-week mini-camp before reporting to Las Vegas for a four-game NBA Summer League schedule.

By then, his feelings of being snubbed by nearly every team starting with Boston at No. 5 will be a distant memory. But he has put the NBA on alert.

“The Los Angeles Clippers are going to get everything I’ve got,” Thornton said.

Numbers game: The Atlantic Coast Conference again had the best night in the draft, with six players selected in the first round and nine players overall. The ACC has had the most first-round NBA picks four of the last six years and 10 of the last 15.

The Southeastern Conference had eight players selected with Florida’s Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah accounting for all of the league’s first-round picks. And yes, the Gators’ Chris Richard and Taurean Green were taken in the second round.

When Duke’s Josh McRoberts was taken in the second round by Portland it marked the 10th-consecutive year the Blue Devils have had a player drafted.

Meanwhile, Charlotte drafted both Boston College’s Jared Dudley, the ACC player of the year, and North Carolina’s Brandan Wright, the league’s rookie of the year. But it appears that Wright was right when ESPN’s Stuart Scott jokingly asked if he could whip another former Tar Heel – Bobcats’ part-owner Michael Jordan. Wright replied that M.J. “doesn’t want any of this.” Before the night was over, Wright was traded to Golden State.

Super leagues: In the final Director’s Cup standings for the 2006-07 calendar year, SEC and ACC schools combined for 21 of the top 50 spots. As a measure of the overall strength of athletic programs, it’s further evidence that the two conferences are the true super powers in the NCAA.

North Carolina (3) led the ACC schools, followed by Duke (11), Virginia (13), Florida State (15), Wake Forest (23), Clemson (36), Maryland (40), N.C. State (44), Georgia Tech (46) and Virginia Tech (48). Boston College (58) and Miami (59) weren’t too far out of the race, either.

Florida (6) edged Tennessee (7) for best in the SEC with Georgia (12), LSU (17), Auburn (19) Arkansas (31), South Carolina (32), Vanderbilt (33), Alabama (43), Kentucky (45) and Mississippi (49) also each making the top-50 cut. Alas, Mississippi State (120) wasn’t close.

Poverty level: Seriously, it might be time for NCAA president Myles Brand to ask for another raise. He earned only $895,000 in 2005-06, according to public tax records that were recently reviewed by the Indianapolis Star. His base salary was $693,183.

While that might be double what chancellors and presidents at some flagship state universities earn, it’s peanuts compared to what most major-college football and basketball coaches are earning these days. The average compensation package for head football coaches topped a million dollars a couple of years ago – long before Alabama’s Nick Saban further pushed the envelope with his $32-million dollar deal over eight years

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