Arizona: 3L... Arizona’s top returning wide receiver entering the 2003 season and expected to be the Wildcats’ key outside threat… Enters the season listed at No. 9 in career receptions with 105 and No. 11 in career yards with 1,530… Has four 100-yard games to his credit entering this season… Played in all 12 games and started 10 for the Wildcats during the 2002 season… Had a breakout season, finishing the year as UA’s second-leading receiver behind Bobby Wade… Had a career-best 61 receptions for 915 yards and three touchdowns last season… Thurman’s 61 receptions stand at No. 6 on the single-season chart, and his 915 yards are eighth on the single-season list… Topped Bobby Wade with a 15.0 yards-per-catch average and had a career-long 92-yard reception in the UCLA game… Finished second on the team in all-purpose yardage with 1,072 yards, an average of 89.3 yards per game… Listed in the top eight in three Pac-10 receiving categories (receptions per game, receiving yards per game and yards per catch)…
As a tandem, Thurman and Wade combined for 154 receptions, making them the school-record 1-2 punch, and easily eclipsing the mark of 121 catches in a single season by Dennis Northcutt (63) and Jeremy McDaniel (58) in 1998… Returned two punts for 41 yards, an average of 20.5 yards per return, and returned six kicks for 104 yards, an average of 17.3 yards per kick return, last season… Tallied a career-best nine receptions for 165 yards versus Utah and caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from Jason Johnson… Tied a career-best nine receptions at Washington and finished with 142 yards and caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jason Johnson… Tied a career-best nine catches at California and finished with 151 yards… Thurman’s career-long 92-yard touchdown reception from Nic Costa in the second quarter of the UCLA game tied for the third-longest pass play and fourth-longest play in UA history… Finished the UCLA game with five catches for 118 yards and a touchdown… Had five catches for 45 yards at Oregon State… Finished the Washington State game with seven receptions for 89 yards… Had four catches for 42 yards in the final game of the year against Arizona State… Had two catches for 18 yards at Stanford and had a season-long 25-yard kick return… Tallied five receptions for 67 yards versus Oregon… Had two catches for 20 yards in the North Texas game and two catches for 10 yards at Wisconsin… Had two receptions for 48 yards in the season opener versus Northern Arizona… Played in all 11 games and started six in 2001... Ended the season with 30 receptions for 470 yards, a 15.7 yards-per-catch average... Had two touchdowns and a season-long reception of 41 yards in the USC game... Had Arizona’s second-best yards-per-catch average behind senior Brandon Marshall (20.5)... Third on the team with 757 all-purpose yards, an average of 68.8 yards per game... Had a punt return for 18 yards in the San Diego State game... Solid kick-off return man, finishing the season with 15 kick returns for 269 yards, an average of 17.9 yards... Caught a pass for five yards and returned a kick for 24 yards at Arizona State... Had four receptions for 44 yards versus Stanford and three catches for 59 yards at California... Had four catches for 96 yards, including a 41-yard reception, against USC... Had three catches for 29 yards at Washington and caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jason Johnson... Also returned three kicks for 61 yards against the Huskies... Returned four kicks for 48 yards at Oregon State... Had two catches for 22 yards and returned five kicks for 108 yards against Oregon... Caught five passes for 95 yards against Washington State... Had two receptions for 30 yards versus UNLV... Caught three passes for 48 yards, including a 19-yard pass for his first career TD from Jason Johnson... Opened the season with three catches for 48 yards, had a kick-off return for 22 yards and blocked a punt for a safety at San Diego State... Had a strong showing during 2001 spring practice... Finished the spring with four receptions for 79 yards in the Red-Blue game and caught a 19-yard pass for a touchdown from Jason Johnson... Played in all 11 games during the 2000 season and earned his first career start against Ohio State... Closed the season with 14 receptions for 145 yards, averaging 10.4 yards per catch... Also returned six kickoffs for 124 yards, an average of 20.7 yards per return... Had a season-best six-catch game for 82 yards against San Diego State... Recovered a blocked punt and returned the ball 34 yards for a touchdown against San Diego State... Finished with three catches for 22 yards against Ohio State... Caught two balls for 19 yards at Stanford... Caught a pass against Washington State, Washington and Oregon State for one, nine and 12 yards, respectively... Returned four kickoffs for 65 yards in the Arizona State game and had two kick-off returns for 59 yards against Oregon State... Redshirted for the Wildcats in 1999... A close friend of former Wildcat and Phoenix-area player Bobby Wade, they announced their commitments to UA at the same gathering.
High School: Westview High School, Avondale, Ariz., 1999... Earned three letters as a wide receiver, corner and quarterback for coach George Martinez... PrepStar All-America honors and SuperPrep All-Far West accolades... Honorable mention Best in the West pick by the Long Beach Press-Telegram and honorable mention Las Vegas Sun Super 11... All-state selection as a junior corner and as a senior receiver... Had 12 interceptions as a junior and 17.5 yards per catch as a senior... Caught 92 balls for 1,583 yards in his last two seasons... Offered scholarships by at least two other Pac-10 schools... Semester honor roll his senior year.
Thurman’s Career Stats
Year G-GS Rec Yards Avg. TD Long KOR Avg. PR Avg.
2000 11-1 14 145 10.4 0 22 6-124 20.7 0-34, 1 TD 0.0
2001 11-6 30 470 15.7 2 41 15-269 17.9 1-18 18.0
2002 12-10 61 915 15.0 3 92 6-104 17.3 2-41 20.5
Totals 34-17 105 1530 14.6 5 92 27-497 18.4 3-93, 1 TD 31.0
