Thon?



  • PaulBiancardi Paul Biancardi Former Espn #1 in the 60Thon Maker @ThonMaker14 is looking hard at four schools .UK , KU, IU and now Arizona State… Ed Smith told Espn about an hour ago



  • @dylans he scares me, maybe 1 semester, what’s that called?1/2ad



  • @Crimsonorblue22 Dunno HAD works. At this point I seriously doubt Bill uses all the schollies so there’s really not much to lose. He could turn into a 2 year player, not likely but stranger things have happened.



  • @dylans I would have concerns regarding chemistry and disruption. Don’t we have to draw the line somewhere? A kid wants to come in a play 1/2 the season?

    We would simply be whores for supposed “talent.”



  • I’d put his odds of going to college at less than 1% if he doesn’t graduate by August and join a team then. Should we hold a scholarship open if he does graduate in August? I’d say no, we shouldn’t be worried about adding someone that late in the process.

    I don’t see any benefit for him joining a team in December as he’d be so far behind in any team system. It’s unlike when a transfer joins mid-way because they have been practicing with that team.

    His handler would lose all his power if he goes to College, lots of reports about how this Ed Smith has had a role in both Thon and his younger brother Matur.

    I think he stays where he is for the year enjoying the year with his brother before going pro next year.



  • I don’t think we know the real story on Thon. We only catch the dumb comments from his handler. Let’s just wait and see.



  • Looks to me to be a prime candidate for The Thon-atron of Doom.



  • I know last years team would’ve been much better with an inside presence. Other than Perry no one showed up late (Cliff was gone) I’d like to think that Hunter and Landon will improve to the point of being quality starters, but that’d be my crimson and blue glasses.

    If KU misses on Diallo then Maker could fill a need.



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    I kind of admire his moxie. He’s telling the NCAA and the NBA your eligibility rule is dumb and I’m going to exploit it to show it’s dumb. We fault a kid who just wants to play ball and make a fabulous living and who doesn’t want to go to college.



  • @wissoxfan83 It’d be nice if he’d leave KU out of it if he has no intentions of going to college.

    (This is a big) IF I were Thon and wasn’t sure of my eligibility I’d go to Europe like Mudiay. Mudiay made 1-1.5 million instead of having crazy women lick his car for a year. Mudiay’s projected as a top 5 pick also, so it didn’t hurt his draft stock.



  • @dylans

    I don’t think Kansas is waiting around for Thon. And we will most likely have at least one extra scholarship left because of our recruiting woes. We may easily end up horribly desperate down the road (as usual)… because if you look back over the years, we do half of our recruiting long after the other blue bloods have filled their roster. Self will assess our needs when Thon’s clouds vaporize and we know if he can play or not.



  • @drgnslayr I agree. KU’s not waiting on Thon, because Bill most likely won’t use all the scholarships. I hope that 2 more scholarships are awarded to players we’ve all been following lately. If Bill signs 2 of Brown, Newman, Diallo, Ingraham, or Maker watch out!



  • @dylans

    In my perfect dream world, we land Diallo and Ingram. And then Thon comes around late in the process and can only play second semester but we have what we need so he goes to desperate Calipari and FUGS up the Wildcats by putting their team in disarray by joining the team midstream.



  • We discuss Calipari and how he runs his program. But we would support our coach whoring out our program for a half season guy like Maker?

    I’m all about national titles. But I don’t want the 2016 national title if it means cheapening our program by bringing in a guy who plays half the season. As shocking as it may seem, I’d rather wear a 2011 conference title t-shirt than have “that” attached to our program.



  • @HighEliteMajor I’m with you. I could see that totally wrecking the chemistry of a team.



  • Come on guys…did you see him play at the Nike Hoops Summit? I did and he is not ready for prime time. If he wanted real competition he would have joined one of the many Basketball Prep schools but instead he went to Canada. I believe the real agenda is to create a narrative where he ends up in the NBA based uniquely on anecdotal experience and potential (the NBA has proven it is dumb enough to do that) rather than actual competition against other top players, so he learns to play while getting a hefty paycheck.

    I really don’t believe that any of the top programs would take him for one semester, not even the squid and particularly not Coach Self, although after playing one semester, and unless he is a savant like Embiid, he will in all likelyhood stay another year or two; he certainly would not start at KU. Way too much distraction and chemistry disruption to take him for one semester; also, it would likely affect the academic standard of the program and the overall backlash would be more than any program would care to have.

    Attending school for one semester and then leaving would be the basketball equivalent of a “booty call” and no school wants to be at the receiving end of such visit. I would certainly hope not KU.



  • Best power forward: Maker (2016), 7-0, 2010, Athlete Institute/Orangeville, Ontario

    Maker is back! As mentioned, he has decided to return to the 2016 class and is back dominating high school competition. He is still the most skilled 7-foot player I have ever seen at the high school level.

    -John Stovall



  • Geesh. There are so many pros and cons with this kid that it makes my head hurt. I will just have to trust in Self to make the right decision for the program. At least it sounds like we have another year to evaluate Maker, and if it makes any sense.



  • Not my choice. Bolden, Herard, Adebayo, or Azubuike – better choices.



  • @Crimsonorblue22 Thon was quoted as saying today from zagsblog.com he is staying in High School and then play look hard next year for a year. going to stay in High School for the upcoming season and then go about business in 2016, he he will play with his brother



  • @HighEliteMajor

    The trouble with those names is that All Bigs are now on “the embargo” list, even those that seem Adidas leans. Self has to go for Maker precisely because Maker, like Diallo, appears willing (for whatever reason) to buck “the embargo.”

    Self apparently heard Cal say he was going after players younger and younger. And when career .560 coaches, like Cuonzo and Johnny Jones are getting stacks including Adidas leans, self probably figures the Adidas pipeline is broken. Hence, Self apparently figures his best odds are with guys bucking the stacks for whatever reason.

    The late players are increasingly the only ones he has a prayer at. No amount of long term recruiting can resist the stacking process, so everything has become about preying on ruptured stack relationships, rather than building long term relationships the stacks can prey upon.


  • Banned

    @jaybate-1.0

    I would think even those in that back cigar smoke filled room are frowning on this one. I don’t want him. and if don’t want him then neither does KU. 🙂



  • @jaybate-1.0 If the pipeline is broken, is it just a ruse that we are considered a favorite for a guy like Bolden? You know, I’m not sold on the whole conspiracy theory thing. But I remain willing to be educated.



  • @HighEliteMajor

    Who has posited a conspiracy theory? Not me. I am totally against positing even conspiracy hypotheses about this dynamic. Why? Because no recent evidence that any conspiracy exists, much less an illegal one. It all appears above board and tolerated.

    This is about apparently legal and Reputedly NCAA TOLERATED shoe lean economics, marketing and politics. I hypothesize it is all legal and above board now. Pitino’s remarks confirm the dynamic back to last season. Jaylen Brown’s reported remarks support expressed shoe lean preference in players exists and can be turned after admitting such preference publicly. Wetzel and Yaeger’s “Sole Influence” confirm wide spread shoe influence in recruiting back to 2000. And Sperber’s “College Sports Inc.” evidences the roots of the dynamic back to 1980s.

    Those using the old smear term conspiracy theory are the only ones talking about conspiracy theories. 😀

    PetroShoeCo influence: It’s DYNAMIC, baby!!!



  • Maker is looking at Indiana and Arizona st.



  • @HighEliteMajor

    Not a ruse. It all appears to depend on how badly Nike and Adidas want him.


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