For those of you who don’t know about Thon Maker, he is an Australian five-star power forward out of Orangeville, Ontario, Canada. Despite his status as such, the 7’0″, 210 pound big man has yet to commit to a program since he will not be enrolling until December. However, new developments on his future have surfaced.
Per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, as was told to him by Maker’s guardian, the schools that the young prospect has been in touch with the most are Indiana and Arizona State.
Thon Maker's guardian tells ESPN that they're in most contact with Indiana and Arizona State.
Won't enroll in college until at least Dec.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) May 22, 2015
ESPN also lists Duke, Arizona, Florida, Georgetown and a myriad number of other schools that have shown interest in Maker, but Indiana and Arizona State are two programs with whom Maker could potentially thrive.
The Hoosiers have stumbled since 2013, a season in which the team won a Big Ten regular season championship and made it to the Sweet Sixteen, but also saw the departures of star big man Cody Zeller and explosive guard Victor Oladipo to the NBA. Since then, Indiana has gone just 37-29 (16-20 Big Ten) and not been particularly strong. The team has a solid forward in rising junior Troy Williams (13 PPG, 7.4 RPG), but could use some size in the middle to shore up an interior defense that could use a leg up.
Then, there’s Arizona State, a team that endured nine years of inconsistency and mediocrity under former coach Herb Sendek, but has recently hired former Buffalo coach Bobby Hurley and his fast scoring attack and lockdown defensive approach. The Sun Devils could also use some size in the middle, as last year’s leading rebounder Savon Goodman is only 6’6″ and 6’10” rising senior Eric Jacobsen will eventually need a successor.
Nothing on Maker’s end is official yet, so this is all purely speculative in terms of what COULD happen. However, Campus Sports will update his decision as more information becomes available.