Canada and Australia seek Maker brothers

With his height and freakish skills, Thon Maker was expected to be a key member of future Australian basketball teams but may play for Canada.

Basketball prodigy Thon Maker could be playing for Canada, not Australia, at future Olympic Games.

The 18-year-old Maker stands 216cm tall, has point guard skills, is accurate from long range and is often compared to NBA All-Stars Kevin Durant and Kevin Garnett.

Rowan Barnett, executive vice president of Basketball Canada, said in an interview this week his organisation was eyeing Maker and his talented younger brother, Matur.

"Absolutely we'll be looking at them - taking a very hard, long look," Barnett told Tip of the Tower website.

"We'll have to see how it pans out."

Maker was born in Sudan, raised in Australia and in 2012 moved to the US where he attended the elite Carlisle School in Virginia.

In a surprise move, the brothers moved to Canada's Athlete Institute in September for Thon's final year of high school.

Basketball Australia is keen to secure the Maker brothers to play for junior Australian teams and future Boomer squads.

However, Maker is also being courted by every major US college basketball team, with Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, UCLA, Missouri, Maryland and Indiana hoping to recruit him for the 2015/16 season.

After a year of college Maker is expected to compete with another Australian, Ben Simmons, for the number one selection in the 2016 NBA Draft.

It's all about them, Barnett said.

"There's a process you go through in getting your citizenship and if they go through that process we will absolutely look at them no different to any other player who resides within our shores or outside our shores that is Canadian.

"We'll definitely look at them intently."


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Source: AAP


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