Thon Maker Will Not Play Overseas Next Year

Amid all the speculation surrounding Orangeville Prep phenom Thon Maker, we added another piece to the puzzle yesterday, when Maker told Yahoo! Sports Marc Spears that going to play pro overseas is not an option.

World F-C Thon Maker told Yahoo at Hoop Summit practice he will not play pro overseas & will either go to a 5th year prep school or college. — Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) April 8, 2015

That leaves Maker with two options: return to Orangeville Prep for a postgrad season, or head down south to play in the NCAA. Or, an outside the box thought would be him playing semi-pro in the NBL, although I highly doubt that happens.

Of course, if his decision is between returning to prep school or heading to college, academics will largely dictate which road he takes. Having gone through three different school systems (Australia, United States and Canada) in a five-year span, it’s hard to imagine that Maker won’t face some sort of hurdle with the NCAA Clearinghouse. Australian basketball reporter Olgun Uluc also shared this notion on his Twitter.

Regarding Thon Maker’s NCAA eligibility: He went from Australia > USA > Canada. Hard to imagine he’s remained academically eligible — Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) April 8, 2015

Aside from the issue of academics, returning to Orangeville Prep for a postgrad season could be an appealing option. He would return to play with his younger brother Matur, a star point guard in Jamal Murray, a young up-and-comer in Jahvon Blair, and would receive excellent one-on-one coaching from his personal coach Justin Zormelo.

Playing with his younger brother Matur might be the biggest factor to consider here, though. Often times we overlook the human element of recruiting. In the case of Maker, this a young man who has moved from Sudan, to Australia, to the United States, and now to Canada, in a very short period of time. For most people, that is one heck of an environment change. But through all those moves, two things have always remained consistent for Maker: basketball and his brother Matur.

With Matur returning to Orangeville Prep next year, Thon might be intrigued to play one more season with his younger brother before entering the NBA Draft.

So what about the NCAA?

Well, we know that Kentucky, Kansas and Indiana are viewed as the frontrunners for Maker. But with the addition of Thomas Bryant, Kyle Robbins of Crimson Quarry.com pointed out that the Hoosiers are over signed for 2015-16, thus adding Maker would take some creative thinking. That doesn’t necessarily rule the Hoosiers out of the Maker sweepstakes, but it certainly makes their pursuit more difficult.

After going through some of the factors last week, I’d guess that Maker will likely either return to Orangeville Prep for a postgrad season, or head south to Lexington or Lawrence. But again, much of his NCAA future hinges on academic eligibility.