N
Thon Maker is taking an unofficial visit to St. John’s Tuesday-Wednesday, his guardian Ed Smith told SNY.tv.
The 7-footer Maker had planned to visit the Queens school around New York’s Eve during his trip to New York for the Grind Session but the holiday traffic thwarted his visit.
“It’s a beautiful city, all these buildings, everything New York has to offer, I just love it,” Maker told SNY.tv that day before he scored 12 points in Athlete Institute’s 66-51 loss to St. Patrick’s as part of The Grind Session’s Gotham Showcase. “Downtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, looking at the art, it’s just beautiful. The fact they play in Madison Square Garden is crazy to me.”
Maker is also considering Arizona State, Indiana, Notre Dame, Kansas and UNLV.
St. John’s has commitments from Thomas Jefferson of Brooklyn star Shamorie Ponds and junior college stud Bashir Ahmed, a Bronx native, while four-star point guard Marcus LoVett will debut next season after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA.
If the Red Storm was to add a commitment from Rawle Alkins, whom head coach Chris Mullin watched on Monday at the Big Apple Basketball Invitational, that could certainly impact Maker and Smith’s thinking.
“It’s always about the guys you’re going to play with and how those pieces fit,” Smith said last month. “They have a good backcourt and maybe they get Rawle Alkins, who is a heck of a player, the King of New York. If they get him, then that would be really, really intriguing.”
Maker is currently projected as the No. 24 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.
**For more, listen to The 4 Quarters Podcast with Ed Smith.
ST. JOHN’S WATCHES JORDAN TUCKER
St. John’s assistant Matt Abdelmassih watched 2017 Archbishop Stepinac wing Jordan Tucker on Tuesday night, his coach confirmed to SNY.tv.
St. John’s also offered 6-6 2018 Aundre Hyatt of Stepinac on Tuesday.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
