Another Maker making his mark in the US
Thon Maker is busy going about cementing his place in the Milwaukee Buck's rotation in the NBA. His younger 20-year-old brother Matur Maker who stands at 6'10 is making an impact in Europe with Zlatorog Laško in Slovenia in his debut professional season. Now his 18-year-old cousin Makur Maker, who is already 6'11, is making his own mark in US high school ranks.
It seems that the athletic physical attributes run deep in the Maker family, translating well to the basketball court.
Having previously attended high school in Canada like his old family members, the youngest Maker is currently enrolled at Orange Lutheran High School in California, and product, and while he is not attracting the same type of hype that Thon Maker once did, his size, reach, athleticism, ball skills and shooting ability are intriguing scouts around the country. In fact, he is being touted as a potential 7-foot point guard.
https://twitter.com/SLAM_HS/status/1082735087446343684
In an interview with Fox Sports' Olgun Uluc, Maker's guardian Ed Smith explained that Makur Maker is a modern-day point forward.
“Makur is a modern-day point forward,” said Smith.
“Very good vision. Passes the ball extremely well. Can hit the catch and shoot, can hit the pulp off the bounce. Has range up to 23, 24 feet. He has a good frame. On the defensive end, he can switch two to five.”
The mix tape that surfaced online this week appears to back up Smith's claims, with Maker displaying above-average handles and shooting capability for a player of his size, scoring 13 points with 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game as a junior. He still has another year of high school ahead of him before heading to college.
“One thing that Makur has, is that he’s 6’11, 235 lbs, in his junior year,” Smith added.
“He’s very strong. Extreme athleticism, and has very good mobility. The next thing he has that Thon and Matur didn’t was feedback from Thon and Matur from their experience. What we’ve picked up through their experience is very important.
“He practised with them all summer. He played with pros. He gets a chance to get an insight just by being there, that other guys never really get. He’s not daunted by a three-pointer from the NBA three-point line because that’s all we shot all summer.”
https://twitter.com/ThonMaker14/status/1082802937129259008
It is Maker's unique blend of skill and physical attributes that has his college recruitment set to heat up, with an offer from UCLA already on the table. However the interest does not end there, with Smith outlining that Auburn and USC had also expressed interest.
“He’s in the 2020 class. There’s a lot of people that like to see us speed up the process, but we wanna make sure that, academically, he’s sound. He’s done a great job. I think he’s around a 3.3 GPA coming into the school. We were able to plug those (academic) holes up in Canada.”
The explosive Josh Green has been tearing up it up with IMG Academy, and together with the likes of Matur Maker, the future of Australian basketball continues to look bright.
