Thon Maker, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2016, and his brother, 2017 forward Matur Maker, have left the Carlisle (VA) School and are debating their next move.
The 7-foot native of the Sudan and his 6-10 brother are considering Hopewell (N.C.) Academy and Athlete Institute in Orangeville, Ontario.
“After an excellent academic year and State Championship season at the Carlisle School, followed by a great AAU seasons on the Adidas circuit with Team Loaded VA, the common theme for Thon and Matur to optimize their potential has been core strength development with additional muscle gain,” Ed Smith, their guardian, said in a statement. “The last Adidas Nations provided Thon with the opportunity to be assessed by the performance specialist group P3. We were able to get an in depth analysis of Thon’s strengths and areas of improvement.
“This assessment has lead us to leave the Carlisle School with extreme appreciation for all that was accomplished. We are currently in the process of evaluating several exciting opportunities. We have visited Hopewell Academy of Cary, NC and are currently in Canada working out at Athlete Institute in Orangeville, Ontario. Hopewell Academy offers us access to EXOS performance facility in Cary, North Carolina. Athlete Institute has a world class training program where high level prep talent such as Jamal Murray, Jalen Poyser and Kyle Alexander currently train.
“We leave the Carlisle School academic community and our good friends in Martinsville with nothing but the best of memories. We would like to thank Headmaster Tommy Hudgins, Athletic Director Keith Dallas, assistant AD Mancino Craighead, Head Coach Jason Niblett and his staff, CW Elliott, the entire staff at the YMCA, Coach Charlie Holland, and all the other families in Martinsville that made our stay special.”
Smith told SNY.tv last month at the Elite 24 game that Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and Indiana were working hardest for Thon Maker, who was still evaluating whether or not to reclass to 2015.
