Thorne played four seasons for Georgia Tech and saw success both as a singles and doubles player. In doubles, he competed in the 1988 NCAA doubles tournament with partner,
Bryan Shelton, after a 24-win doubles season. Thorne finished with 75 career doubles wins (all matches). As a singles player, he finished with a .717 career win percentage (all matches)– 10th highest in school history. He won an
ACC singles championship in 1986. Thorne qualified for the NCAA singles tournament twice, in 1986 and 1988. He finished as the Georgia Tech career leader in singles victories (all matches) with 112 wins (a record later broken by one of his players, Guillermo Gomez). Thorne was named an
ITA All-American in 1988. In the same year, he was awarded the ITA John Van Nostrand Memorial Award. He finished his Georgia Tech playing career as a four-time All-ACC honoree. He was also twice named captain of the team and was an Academic All-ACC honoree. Kenny Thorne was later inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.
College singles records • Season wins (dual matches): 22, 1987–88 • Season wins (all matches): 43, 1987–88 ==Professional career==