The Hornets have officially signed first round draft pick Darren Collison and second round pick Marcus Thornton.

The 21st overall pick and former UCLA Bruin, Collison averaged 14.4 points, 4.7 assists and 1.6 steals and was a First Team All-Pac-10 selection as a senior in 2008-09. The point guard was also winner of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, for the nation’s best player six-feet or under. Despite the somewhat dubious honor (and the fact that some reports list Collison at 6′1″) the award has to be better than the one I would give for the worst player over 7′0″ – what I will call the Slavko Vranes award.

Thornton, who finished his career at LSU after spending his first two years at Kilgore Community College, was named the SEC’s Player of the Year in 2009 after averaging 21.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists. The Baton Rouge native will give the Hornets some much needed depth at the shooting guard position with three-point range. Even as a second round pick, look for Thornton to make an impact in his first few seasons in New Orleans. Even spending only two full seasons with LSU he totaled 1,347 points which was good enough for 21st all time for the Tigers. His 20.4 scoring average is sixth-best all time and he finished eighth in school history with 168 three-pointers.