Growing up as a kid in Canada, there weren't a lot of high level NBA prospects popping up near by.
Even then, during my highschool and college years, it
was pretty clear that any serious talent was found in one of three areas: Toronto, Montreal
or Vancouver.
Over the last twenty years, those three regions have produced: Steve Nash, Anthony Bennett, Joel Anthony, Sam Dalembert, Cory Joseph, Andrew Nicolson, Kelly Olynyk, Robert Sacre, Tyler Ennis, Tristan Thompson, Dwight Powell and of course, Andrew Wiggins.
This weekend, Canadas basketball map may have added one more pushpin. The small town
of Orangeville, Ontario has slowly developed the most elite and sought after
basketball academy in Canada, and at this moment, they are the envy of every major prep school in the United States.
The town, with their population of 31,000 and situated 100 kms north of
Toronto, was known more for its production of lacrosse players and professional wrestlers until recently.
“Excited to
announce that Thon Maker & Matur Maker will be attending Orangeville Prep
at Athlete Institute for the 2014-15 basketball season,” – Twitter posting from
Orangeville Prep’s head coach Larry Blunt on Friday evening (September 5th).
Thon Maker, the number one prospect in US
high school basketball, turned down offers from such elite programs as Cary,
North Carolina’s prep school Hopewell Academy and its affiliation with EXOS to
announce he was coming north.
The Virginia
resident, and his brother Matur, are both making the commitment to attend
the Athletic Institute Basketball Academy in Orangeville for the 2014-15 season.
When the news broke, Orangeville was suddenly receiving press from the
major Canadian news sites as well as ESPN.
"It's definitely the right fit for
me," Thon Maker said. "I came up here last year, but now I got a
chance to see both the academic and athletic side, and I was really impressed.
It will certainly help me attain one of my goals, and that is to change my body
over time." – from ESPN article by Paul Biancardi
 |
| Thon and brother Matur at AIBA in Orangeville |
The academy was already receiving some of the
more elite players in Canada over the last couple of seasons including highly
touted Kitchener, Ontario native Jamal Murray and Malton’s Jalen Poyser.
The announcement of 7’1 Maker ( who has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant and Kevin Garnett) has all of
a sudden turned the attention of the basketball world, and the NCAA scouts, to
this little town in Ontario.
In fact, the
run of scouts from the NCAA and NBA that will be coming in and out of Orangeville
might actually make Thon Maker the largest tourism draw for the town this year.
