Thon Maker Narrows List to Four Schools
By Daniel Tran
March 11, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils dancers perform before the game against the Southern California Trojans in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Arizona State Sun Devils
Newly hired head coach Bobby Hurley has stumbled into a great situation. Not only is he getting a shot to coach in one of the power conferences in the nation for the first time, he has a chance to get Maker, one of the most unique talents at the high school level right now.
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Eric Smith, Maker’s mentor, has connections to Brian Merritt, who was brought on by Hurley to fill in a spot on his staff. Merritt has known about Maker since the eighth grade and has a fast track on getting Maker to visit campus utilizing his relationship with Smith.
Hurley is coming off a year where he led a Buffalo Bulls team to their first NCAA Tournament appearance ever with far less talent than he will have at Arizona State. With Tra Holder, Eric Jacobsen, and Gerry Blakes in the mix, ASU could be a great place for Maker to establish himself as “the Man” immediately and impress NBA scouts right out of the gate.
Arizona State is the only school that can offer Maker the guarantee of being the star of the team right when he steps onto the court midway through the season. The chance of getting virtually unlimited touches while he is in Tempe might be too good for the talented Maker to pass up.
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