Notre Dame, Mike Brey Enter Thon Maker Sweepstakes
By Andrew Hall
Ontario (Canada) Orangeville Prep’s Thon Maker One of the Nation’s Best
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey is not known for landing top recruits. In fact, Notre Dame’s highest ranked recruit of the last five years is Cameron Biedscheid, a Small Forward who only played for the Fighting Irish for one year. Current Irish Point Guard Demetrius Jackson also was heavily recruited. Rivals ranked him as the 38th best player in the 2013 class. More specifically, Brey has never reeled in the big fish, one and done player.
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But, Brey continues to try. His latest target is Ontario (Canada) Orangeville Prep’s Thon Maker. The 7’0″ Power Forward is a consensus 5-star prospect. According to the 247Sports Composite, Maker ranks as the 9th best player in the country.
Maker holds offers from Arizona State, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, Duke, Georgetown, Louisville, Memphis, Miami (FL), Missouri, UNLV, and Virginia.
Arizona State, Indiana and Kentucky appear to be the toughest competition for the Irish.
Ed Smith, Maker’s guardian, told SNY.tv, “He feels that Notre Dame’s academics, style of play, offensive efficiency, and player development will assist Thon in achieving all of his goals. He has not had an opportunity to work with an elite level player like Thon, at Notre Dame, but he has developed players who were not considered elite level talent into NBA lottery picks at Notre Dame. Furthermore he has worked with elite level players, such as Thon, at both DeMatha and Duke who stretched the floor before the term stretch 4.”
According to Maker’s guardian, he is planning a visit to South Bend this fall.
Maker is an extreme long shot for Brey and the Irish basketball program. Even if he lands the elite Power Forward, it also does not fit the model for Notre Dame’s program. The Irish landed in the Elite 8 after developing Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton into NBA players over the course of four years.
There is a question of whether or not Brey can develop a player quickly. Maker will likely only play one year of college basketball before departing for the NBA. He is projected as a 1st Round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.