7-0 Makur Maker has been one of the most tantalizing stories of high school basketball this season. Having already submitted his paperwork to the NBA to petition to enter the NBA Draft, scouts have been flocking to his games all season long to evaluate the supremely talented big man. Now, they will be watching him in a different jersey.
Following his game Tuesday night at the Tarkanian Classic, Makur’s guardian Ed Smith confirmed to SLAM that he will indeed be making a move from CIBA at Pacific Academy (CA) to Hillcrest Prep (AZ) for the remainder of the season. He will be playing immediately in the Chick-Fil-a Classic this week in South Carolina.
More than half of the NBA was represented at the Tarkanian Classic on Tuesday night for Makur’s matchup against 7-2 Filipino sensation Kai Sotto, and there were at least eight teams at each of his two games on Wednesday. There were questions initially whether or not teams were going to be able to evaluate Maker at Tarkanian, but that didn’t stop Tarkanian Classic director Dinos Trigonis from being flooded with inquiries from NBA executives.
Maker has still not been deemed eligible for the 2020 NBA Draft and is weighing his college options. He turned 19 years old last month and is now in his fifth year of high school. However, if he is deemed ineligible for the 2020 Draft, he has no shortage of suitors. At the moment, Oregon, Howard, Auburn, and Washington State are on him the hardest. Makur is still wide open in the process and willing to listen to all programs, though.
ESPN presently has Makur Maker projected as the No. 35 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, but some NBA executives that we spoke with in Las Vegas believe that he could jump to the lottery once teams see him in workouts.
At Hillcrest Prep, Makur will join an absolutely loaded starting lineup that has 6-7 Arizona recruit Dalen Terry, 6-7 UNC bound Puff Johnson, 6-9 top-5 junior Michael Foster Jr. and 6-10 top-10 sophomore Sadraque Nganga.
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Rodger Bohn is a contributor to SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @rodgerbohn.
