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Milwaukee Bucks draft 19 year-old South-Sudanese basketball sensation Thon Maker

South Sudanese-Australian basketball sensation, 19 year-old Thon Maker has been selected by the Milwaukee Bucks as the team’s 10th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. The 7-foot-1 player graduated from high school in 2015. Congratulations on the draft.

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South Sudanese-Australian basketball sensation Thon Maker has been selected by the Milwaukee Bucks as the team’s 10th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

The 19 year-old Maker, who graduated from high school in 2015 was drafted after the NBA ruled the forward was eligible for the 2016 NBA draft.

Read: Thon Maker, the South-Sudanese basketball sensation who could be moving straight from high school to the NBA

While there has been rumours about Maker’s real age, Milwaukee Bucks shrugged off the speculation and swiftly moved to secure the services of the young and talented athlete

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Sudanese-Australian basketball player Thon Maker reacts after the Milwaukee Bucks selected him as the number tenth pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 23 June 2016. Photo: ANP/Epa/Jason Szenes

Sudanese-Australian basketball player Thon Maker reacts after the Milwaukee Bucks selected him as the number tenth pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 23 June 2016. Photo: ANP/Epa/Jason Szenes

Maker, the 7-foot-1 young player is indeed a great prospect because of his outstanding ingenuity. A great shooter who is blessed with blistering pace, remarkable height, shot blocking, and dribbling skills, Maker has been touted as one of the great prospects.

Maker has played two seasons for the Athlete Institute Academy in Mono, Ontario, which plays in the seven-team Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association. According to Milwaukee Bucks, Maker was selected League MVP, Finals MVP and First-Team All-Star following the 2015-16 season and the 19-year-old has also represented the World Select Team at the 2015 Nike Hoop Summit.

Maker was born in February 1997 in what is now South Sudan, and at age five, Thon and his younger brother and aunty escaped the civil war and briefly settled in Uganda before moving to Australia as refugees. In Australia, Maker was discovered by Edward Smith, who helped nurture the boy’s talent and later facilitated his move to Canada, where Maker played high school basketball.

Meanwhile, Sudanese-born British forward Luol Deng, who has played for Miami Heat and reportedly recently signed a lucrative contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, has congratulated Maker on being selected. Deng wrote on Instagram: “luoldeng9 Congratulations to @thonmaker. Very proud to see another South Sudanese in the league. Welcome to the NBA”.

 

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