NCAA Basketball: Makur Maker may end up in college, considering 4 schools

High School phenom Makur Maker may play in NCAA Basketball after all.

Highly touted 2020 prospect Makur Maker officially declared for the NBA Draft on April 25 but told 247Sports Evan Daniels that he hasn’t hired an agent and will navigate the draft waters while maintaining NCAA Basketball eligibility.

"“I was planning on getting some workouts with some teams, I still do not know how that is going to go. But with corona everything has changed everyone’s plans. I was hoping to come to Hoop Summit and kill everybody and the Iverson Classic also. That kind of changed everybody’s plans,” he added. “I was waking up at 6:00 am to get ready and counting down the days to Hoop Summit and Iverson classic, so we’ll see how it goes.”“The NBA G League reached out and approached my coach, but if it’s not the NBA then I’m going to go to college because I’m young and still want to learn more.”"

Maker mentioned to Daniels that he would consider UCLA, Kentucky, Auburn, and Oregon if he decided to go the college route.

The 6-11 center has very good size for his position with tremendous mobility and possesses skills of a guard. He has some sweet handles and a smooth stroking jumper with range out to the three-point arc. Additionally, Makur sees the floor exceptionally well and is an elite rim-protector.

Maker is a consensus five-star prospect who is ranked among the 20 players in 2020. ESPN and 247Sports have him ranked 12th in the class. Meanwhile, 247Sports lists him as the fifth best-prospect, however, Rivals has him at No. 17 in their rankings.

The 19-year-old Kenyan born-Australian citizen transferred to Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix in mid-December. He averaged 17.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game in 12 appearances for the Bruins.

Maker is currently ranked 75th in ESPN’s top 100 NBA prospects. Maker is the cousin of Detroit Pistons center Thon Maker and Matur Maker, who is now playing for the G-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Here is the look at the four schools Makur said he would consider.

Kentucky: Kentucky has three scholarships remaining to hand out in 2020 and the Wildcats really could use to add a big or two. The Cats have missed on several prospects recently, including Purdue transfer Matt Haarms and VCU transfer Marcus Santos-Silva. Harms chose BYU while Santos-Silva didn’t include the Wildcats in his final six.

“Coach Calipari is a good guy,” Maker previously said about UK. “[When he visited my home last April] he sat down with me and my guardian, spoke about some things, how they see me at Kentucky and how I fit. Just talking to me personally. He was giving me tips. What it takes there to be on the floor, and what he would expect from me. He’s a good person.”

Auburn: Auburn has a couple of scholarships left in 2020, and while adding a big would be a coup, it isn’t their highest priority. The Tigers have Jaylin Williams, 2020 commit JT Thor, and Babatunde Akingbola currently on the roster. They are also looking at several prospects including big men Kai Sotto, Frank Anselem, along with Eduardo Andre.

UCLA: The Bruins have at least one scholarship to give out in 2020 and possibly two depending on whether Chris Smith stays in the NBA Draft. UCLA could use to add a big man with just Cody Riley, Jalen Hill, and Kenneth Nwuba currently on the power forward/center depth chart.

Oregon: The Ducks don’t have a scholarship remaining though that could change. However, Oregon certainly could use a big man with just N’Faly Dante and Chandler Lawson.

Prediction: It appears that Makur wants to be in the NBA next season. I don’t see that happening, and since he apparently prefers college basketball to the G-League, I believe he would ultimately end up at Kentucky for one season. I would put UCLA at No. 2, followed distantly by Oregon and Auburn.