Thon Maker: Do You Believe The Hype?

I remember the first time I got a look at Thon Maker last year.

Maker, a 7-foot wing that currently plays in Canada by way of Australia and Sudan, was quickly rising up recruiting boards because of his inhuman versatility for a kid his size. As a college hoop nut, I was quickly drawn to the “Thon Maker REVOLUTIONARY 7-FOOTER” headline I saw on a YouTube video that was posted last February when Maker was 16 years old.

The first thing I said was, “He doesn’t move as fluently, but good lord … he could be the next Kevin Durant.” I was obviously caught up in the moment, but when you look at the two at first glance, that comparison isn’t that far off, right?

Shortly after watching this mixtape, I wanted to do some digging on Thon Maker. This was the first time I had seen or heard of this kid, and I was immediately drawn to his potential.

Of course, during my research period, I found this:

This tweet’s interesting because it sparked a hot debate between The Big Lead‘s Jason McIntyre and some of the best college hoop insiders in the game today.

Here’s some of the exchange:

McIntyre responds with a short, valid analysis tweet of Maker:

After reading this exchange, I leaned with Rob Dauster, a college hoop guru for NBC Sports. Dauster had seen Maker play live, while also understanding that the hype machine can be built rather quickly for some high school hoop prospects, especially in this era.

I mean, let’s be honest: Kevin Durant is the second-best player in the NBA (when his foot is 100 percent). Durant not only has an NBA MVP on his mantle, he captured just about every player of the year award during his lone season with the Texas Longhorns.

Furthermore, the example that Dauster gave (Demetrius Walker), was dubbed “The Next LeBron” as a 12-year-old. The result? Walker would later commit to New Mexico, transferred to Grand Canyon, then was later kicked off the team by former NBA star Dan Majerle for a “violation of team rules“.

With great hype, comes great responsibility.

A few weeks back, SB Nation college hoop editor Ricky O’Donnell wrote this take on Maker after his explosion onto the recruiting scene last February, along with his transfer from Virginia to the premier Athlete Institute in Mono, ON, Canada:

"Was Thon Maker “exposed”? It depends who you ask. Many of his ‘flaws’ were things that have long been evident. He reportedly didn’t even weigh 200 pounds a year ago, meaning he had to add serious weight before he could even think about realizing his full potential. He also seemed confused as to the type of player he wanted to be: was Maker a wing or should he be developing his post game?It culminated at the Nike Hoops Summit in April, where Maker looked overwhelmed against the best players in the 2015 class, scoring only two points. ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla tweeted “NBA scouts not seeing it w/Thon Maker.” At that point, it seemed like he might not even be ready to be an impact player at the college level as he contemplated reclassifying up a year to play in 2015.Ultimately, Maker decided stay in the class of 2016, which gave him another year to add strength and refine his game. Guess what? Now Maker once again looks like a great prospect. He has reportedly added 26 pounds to his frame over the last year, and is playing with a renewed aggression scouts weren’t seeing months ago."

I read this twice because O’Donnell absolutely nailed this.

If you saw Maker during the Nike Hoops Summit back in April, you definitely were disappointed with his performance.

Maker had 10 rebounds in 14:19 of game time for the World Team in Portland, but he scored just two points. You noticed Maker’s length right off the bat, but while others like Ben Simmons, Skal Labissiere and Jamal Murray helped their stock, Maker didn’t wow the NBA scout-heavy crowd.

But, like O’Donnell mentioned, now that Maker is officially staying in the 2016 class, it appears he’s found his game quite nicely since April.

How so?

Check out these numbers from ESPN college basketball recruiting insider Jeff Borzello for Maker against the 2017 class’s top prospect, DeAndre Ayton (6’11”, San Diego, CA):

Along with his up-and-down path to committing to a top-tier college hoop program next season, Thon Maker’s stock appears to be rapidly rising again. Among the schools in the chase for Maker’s services next season are Arizona, Arizona State, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Louisville.

So, the question remains: Do you believe the hype?

(Yeah, Maker shook Edrice Adebayo, the No. 7 prospect in the 2016 class according to Rivals.com.)

Next: Kentucky Wildcats: Could 2016 Class Be Calipari's Crown Jewel?

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