Aussie basketball talent Thon Maker considers a move to Canada

ONE of Australia’s brightest basketball prospects, seven-foot phenomenon Thon Maker, is considering a move to Canada.

TREVISO, ITALY - JUNE 07: Thon Maker of team USA takes a shot during adidas Eurocamp day one at La Ghirada sports center on June 7, 2014 in Treviso, Italy. (Photo by Roberto Serra/Iguana Press/Getty Images)

ONE of Australia’s brightest basketball prospects, seven-foot phenomenon Thon Maker, is considering a move to Canada.

And that might be bad news for the Boomers.

Seventeen-year-old Maker has spent the past three years in the American high school system, where he’s been rated the No. 1 player of the 2016 graduating class.

But his guardian has confirmed Maker and younger brother Matur had left Virginia’s elite Carlisle School and were on the lookout for a new home.

Among the options are Hopewell Academy in North Carolina and the Athlete Institute in Ontario. The pair visited both this week. Several reports suggested Maker was leaning towards the latter, with speculation he wants to become a naturalised Canadian to improve his chances of a career in the NBA.

If he chooses to go down that path, he would no longer be eligible for the Boomers.

Maker, however, has previously expressed his desire to represent Australia following a meeting with national coach Andrej Lemanis.

Lemanis likened him to NBA superstar Kevin Durant, impressed by his coordination, ball work and shooting ability, and had hoped to get him in the national program as soon as possible.

The centre, a Sudanese refugee who at the age of five fled the war-torn nation and settled in Perth, was considered unlucky to miss selection for the Boomers’ current World Cup squad.

He was last month ranked the second-best high school prospect in a poll of US coaches and has had offers from several top American colleges including Duke, Kentucky and Indiana.

Three years in Canada — or anywhere else outside the US — would mean Maker would be classified as an “international player” under the NBA’s rules, allowing him to bypass college and directly enter the draft — as Australia’s No. 5 NBA draft pick Dante Exum did earlier this year.

He has two years of high school eligibility remaining, but could reclassify — making the upcoming 2014-2015 season his last.

Originally published as Aussie basketball talent Thon Maker considers a move to Canada