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Thon Maker will take his first official visit to No. 1-ranked Kansas on Saturday for the Senior Night festivities against Iowa State, his guardian Ed Smith told SNY.tv.
“Thon really wanted to see one of the college games, the atmosphere,” Smith said by phone from Canada. “We’ve been there once, but seeing Iowa State is a whole different ballgame.”
The 7-foot Maker, currently at Athlete Institute in Ontario, is also considering Arizona State, Notre Dame, Indiana, St. John’s and UNLV but no other officials have been set.
“The dates worked out [with Kansas],” Smith said. “We play this Friday and then Thon will be able to get out there early on Saturday for a 3 o’clock game. This is the only slot we had and Kansas was able to fit in.”
Kansas loses bigs Perry Ellis, Jamari Traylor and Hunter Mickelson to graduation and could lose freshman Cheick Diallo to the Draft. He’s projected as the No. 31 pick by DraftExpress.com.
“He’s two years away from being two years away,” ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla said on air of Diallo during Kansas’ blowout victory over Texas on Monday night.
Kansas already has pledges from 6-10 Florida big man Udoka Azubuike and 6-8 Arizona power forward Mitch Lightfoot. They also recently offered 6-10 forward Taurean Thompson of Brewster (N.H.) Academy.
“They have Udoka, who is a true five,” Smith said. “I don’t know what Cheick’s gonna do, but I think Thon can space the floor. He and Carlton [Bragg] will play the four.”
He added: “No matter where you go you’re going to have to compete. You don’t run from competition. Thon is really comfortable at that position, so competitively he’s right there.”
Smith said a Notre Dame official could happen in April.
“Maybe sometime in April depending on how far they go, that would be somethnig to look at,” Smith said.
Smith said they considered coming to St. John’s on Saturday for the Providence game, but can’t make it.
“We were thinking about trying to get down for this game in the Garden on the 5th but it was just too tight of a window,” Smith said.
Maker recently took an unofficial to St. John’s and said he liked New York.
“We are working on getting dates arranged” for the other schools,” Smith added.
Maker, who has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant and Kevin Garnett, is projected as the No. 29 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.
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