Utah State freshman forward Steven Thornton is no longer an Aggie.

USU announced in a press release on Friday afternoon that Thornton has left the team to move closer to home. That's a blow to USU and its young talent.

Thornton started in the beginning of the season and excited fans with his athleticism. He has struggled of late, though. I a win over Utah Valley University on Tuesday night, Thornton never moved from the bench, as it became clear that sophomore forward Danny Berger had taken his spot in the rotation.

Thornton also had a run-in with the coaching staff, openly arguing with assistant Tarvish Felton on the USU bench in the second half of a win over Idaho State.

Thornton is the second Utah State player to leave the program in the past six weeks. Antonio Bumpus departed days before USU's season-opener at BYU.

For his Aggie career, Thornton played in seven games, averaged 2.7 points per game and played 14 minutes per game.

Tony Jones