Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Indiana, Kansas Were First Schools to Reach Out to Thon Maker After Announcement
Indiana and Kansas were the first two schools to reach out to Thon Makerafter he recently Tweeted he was “on track to graduate” in 2015.
The 7-foot, 211-pound Maker also says he’s “70 percent” that he will reclass to 2015, making him eligible for the 2016 NBA Draft.
“The messages were in the hundreds, in terms of college coaches and media reaching out to see what was going on,” Maker’s guardian, Ed Smith, told Franklyn Calle of Slam in this story. “It was a little bit of a firestorm for Thon, [head] Coach [Larry] Blunt and myself. [Assistant coach] Chuck Martin of Indiana was on it quick. He was the first college coach to reach out. And then [assistant coach] Kurtis Townsend of Kansas was next just moments later.”
That may explain why Maker recently said he plans to Indiana and had postponed a visit to Kansas, which may still happen.
“We were going to visit Kansas [over the weekend] but we had already made the commitment to play in this tournament, so that got postponed,” Maker told OnPointBasketball.com and SNY.tv. “Indiana is another school that I plan on visiting soon.”
“If we get a chance, you know, the season’s coming to an end so eventually we’ll be able to travel back [to the U.S.] just to get a few looks in, so that should be very soon,” he said.
Smith recently told SNY.tv that Kentucky and Kansas would likely get visits if Maker reclassed
Maker, now projected as the No. 10 pick in the 2016 Draft by DraftExpress.com, also told Slam he’s leaning toward reclassing but won’t know for sure until June.
“I would say 70 percent chance right now that I can do it,” Maker said. “I just want to keep it open toward June so that I have both options. I don’t want to just be locked into the 2015 class and then not finish. I want to make sure that when I get closer to graduation time then I can make a decision.”
Photo: Big Apple Basketball
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
Indiana and Kansas were the first two schools to reach out to Thon Maker after he recently Tweeted he was “on track to graduate” in 2015.
The 7-foot, 211-pound Maker also says he’s “70 percent” that he will reclass to 2015, making him eligible for the 2016 NBA Draft.
“The messages were in the hundreds, in terms of college coaches and media reaching out to see what was going on,” Maker’s guardian, Ed Smith, told Franklyn Calle of Slam in this story. “It was a little bit of a firestorm for Thon, [head] Coach [Larry] Blunt and myself. [Assistant coach] Chuck Martin of Indiana was on it quick. He was the first college coach to reach out. And then [assistant coach] Kurtis Townsend of Kansas was next just moments later.”
That may explain why Maker recently said he plans to Indiana and had postponed a visit to Kansas, which may still happen.
“We were going to visit Kansas [over the weekend] but we had already made the commitment to play in this tournament, so that got postponed,” Maker told OnPointBasketball.com and SNY.tv. “Indiana is another school that I plan on visiting soon.”
“If we get a chance, you know, the season’s coming to an end so eventually we’ll be able to travel back [to the U.S.] just to get a few looks in, so that should be very soon,” he said.
Smith recently told SNY.tv that Kentucky and Kansas would likely get visits if Maker reclassed
Maker, now projected as the No. 10 pick in the 2016 Draft by DraftExpress.com, also told Slam he’s leaning toward reclassing but won’t know for sure until June.
“I would say 70 percent chance right now that I can do it,” Maker said. “I just want to keep it open toward June so that I have both options. I don’t want to just be locked into the 2015 class and then not finish. I want to make sure that when I get closer to graduation time then I can make a decision.”
Photo: Big Apple Basketball
