As the college basketball season ends tonight, all attention will be turned to the NBA Draft. Fans and experts will be thinking about who’s in, who’s out and who should not even think about considering making a jump to the pros. There is nothing worse than watching potential be wasted on bad advice. Debates about if players should have the right to bypass college and make the leap to the NBA or be forced to stick around the NCAA for at least a year to two, will continue to rage on.
The latest name to hit on all marks of the discussion is 19-year-old high school star Thon Maker, which is surprising for a myriad of reasons.
For one, the 7-foot-1 Sudanese forward only became a national focal point about a year ago when video of his skills hit the net. And although his rail-thin frame, mobility and ability to stretch his touch to the 3-point line has evoked the names of Kevin Garnett and Kevin Durant, he has both underwhelmed and been more average than great on the tournament circuit. Up to a week ago the discussion was centered around the visits to Notre Dame and Arizona State that he had scheduled for the middle of the month. As far as everyone knows, he is not eligible to enter the draft, even though he announced it.
As ESPN insider Chad Ford said, Maker could try to prove that he is an international player and immediately be eligible or try to prove that this season at Orangeville Prep in Canada was nothing more than a year of postgraduate play that qualifies as his one year removed from high school graduation.
It all seems confusing to the public, but there is a chance that this was the plan all along of his guardian, Ed Smith, from last year when he assured the press that Maker was on his way to finishing all of his required courses to graduate with the 2015 class. Perhaps his only reason for coming back is to play a final season with his younger brother, Matur. There is also a chance that the decision to declare for NBA eligibility could blow up in his face they way it did for Lenny Cooke, years ago.
Harsh but according to Ford, “one scout had [Maker] in the late lottery, several others in the mid 20s and one in the second round.” Cooke, who was clearly a better prospect, suffered similar range issues and went undrafted.
I doubt that Maker will see the same fate, but if he drops and does turn out to be something special, plenty of general managers will have to spend their time learning to live with regrets.
