RANKINGS: Class of 2014 - 2015 - 2016

For the past few days, the nation's No. 3 player in the class of 2016, Thon Maker-- a seven foot tall center -- and his class of 2017 brother Matur Maker have been making visits in the Midwest.

After making their way home from visiting Kansas and Missouri, the guardian of the Martinsville (Va.) Carlisle School big men Edward Smith recapped the visits.

Given that Thon is the older and more established of the Maker brothers -- Matur is a promising 6-foot-9 forward -- it sounds as if much of the conversation centered around Thon.

The bunch arrived in Lawrence Monday afternoon and checked out Kansas that evening and through part of Tuesday.

"The Kansas visit went well," Smith told Rivals.com. "We first had a chance to meet with their Strength and Conditioning coach, Coach Hudy. We spent a bit of time with her and she is number one in her field. She is very informative and very good at what she does in terms of having a plan together for here is where you are and here is where you can be. She is a little ahead of the curve."

After meeting with the Jayhawks strength coach, Smith and the Maker brothers spent plenty of time meeting with Bill Self and his staff.

"Then we had a chance to sit with the staff and Coach Self," said Smtih. "He was speaking to Thon about all of the different bigs he has had and how he has used them. He said that he thinks he can move him around like he did the Morris twins. He can post him in the mid post him, move him in the pick and roll and pop him or stretch him as a trailer and scorer.

"Once his weight comes and he gets stronger Self feels Thon could be one of the top players that comes from there. He was very excited and we had a good meeting."

After wrapping up the visit at Kansas, Smith and the Makers next went to Missouri. Smith has a long standing relationship with Tigers assistant Tim Fuller who worked hard to get the Makers on campus in Columbia.

"I've known Tim Fuller since the Fairfield days when he was with Ed Cooley," said Smith. "He was talking abiout how he had to get us on campus because they have a fundamentally strong coach who he feels is going to do some exiting things with team play and he feels Missouri is a place somebody could build a legacy."

The trip to Missouri featured a tour of the campus -- Smith mentioned that they were greeted a few times by fans who had learned of the visit via twitter rumblings -- and a meeting with new coach Kim Anderson.

"We had the chance to see the campus and get a feel for the quality of life," said Smith. "We met with Coach Anderson also and that was positive. He's a really laid back guy and he's a Missouri guy so he has a lot of support and is passionate about the place. From what he has seen on Thon he has seen so much he can do with him and that was a theme. That he could get stronger was a theme too."

Next up on the docket for the Maker brothers will be a June 30th unofficial trip to Duke. When Thon heads out to Los Angeles for Adidas Nations at the end of the summer he will likely take trips to UCLA and down to Arizona while on the West Coast. Also in August, Smith hopes to take Maker by N.C. State and Georgetown and could also slip in visits to Kentucky and Indiana if time permits.

Finally, Smith addressed the same rumors about Thon moving to the class of 2015 from 2016 that Thon did at last week's NBPA Top 100 Camp. The move is certainly under consideration, but not a sure thing.

"We have to sit down with our school and come up with a plan," said Smith. "We have to see the possibilities and go from there once the school year starts.

"It is not as easily done as it is said with what the NCAA has to do."

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