Thon Maker, a Sudanese-born Australian, is currently playing basketball in an American high school. Like Ben Simmons before him, he is tearing it up.
Maker has a 7-foot frame and has handles that allow him to break a defender;s ankles and attack the rim with force. He has been labelled as the most versatile player in high school ball and Maker has a hell of a career ahead of him.
Maker was born in what is now South Sudan. His uncle helped Maker, along with his younger brother Matur and his aunt, to escape the civil war and move into Uganda when Maker was five. Once there, they were accepted as refugees by Australia, they moved to Perth where the family had an opportunity to finally settle down.
Growing up with his equally talented brother Matur – who is a top prospect in the class of 2017 – the boys were noticed Edward Smith, an Australian of African-American heritage who helps children from migrant backgrounds receive opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t get. Smith found Thon playing soccer gave him an opportunity to develop his basketball ability.
Once the brothers arrived in Sydney they played basketball for St. George Basketball Association, where Thon dominated before moving to Texas. Once he was in the States, the rest is history. He had an immediate impact on his high school team in Martinsville, Virginia averaging 22.2 points, 13.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 steals and 4.5 blocks over a total of 53 games in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Despite obvious success in Martinsville, Thon and his brother enrolled at a sports institute in Ontario Canada, where Smith was a coach. Due to their enrolment at the institute it is required that the play basketball at one of the surrounding high schools, the duo were a welcome addition at Orangeville District.
Maker struggled with the decision to either become a wing player or add weight to his frame and use his height to play in the post.
Maker was originally eligible for the 2015 recruiting class which would see him in college right now with other Australians such as Ben Simmons and Peter Hooley. But because of his workload, Maker chose to declassify into the 2016 class. Performances at the Nike hoop Summit where he played alongside Simmons with an underwhelming performance of 2 points, 10 rebounds and 1 block saw analysts publicly question Thon’s readiness for college ball.
So among all of this his decision to reclassify into the 2016 class sees him at high school for another year, and his red hot start has seen him as the eighth ranked prospect nationally by 247sports.com and the second ranked power forward in the class. It is widely believed that he will attend Arizona State University where his younger brother has suggested his future lies. The Sun Devils program isn’t a basketball powerhouse but boats impressive alumni such as current NBA superstar James Harden.
Still with all of this potential and a long but heartwarming story of success Maker isn’t terribly well known back here in Australia, you can certainly familiarise yourself with him by searching his highlight tapes on YouTube.
Furthermore, while Maker was offered the chance to represent Canada, he indicated he would continue to represent Australia which is great news for Aussie basketball fans.
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Nikola Jokic has scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead defending NBA champions Denver past LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers…
There will undoubtedly be upset results here and there in the NBA playoffs but there’s an overwhelming sense of fait accompli that Boston will…
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
The only realistic threat to Boston’s chances of strolling through the Eastern Conference is a team that could still end up in the play-in…
Australian guards Dante Exum and Josh Giddey have both come up big for their NBA clubs in crucial wins in the lead-in to the…
Minnesota Timberwolves fans have endured plenty of pain in their 35 years of being a laughing stock in the NBA. In all that time,…
