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Orangeville Prep player Thon Maker announced his intention to declare for the NBA draft on Sunday.J.P. MOCZULSKI/The Globe and Mail

Thon Maker, the Sudan-born basketball phenom playing at Orangeville Prep in Mono, Ont., says he intends to skip college and declare for the upcoming NBA Draft. Now the league must decide whether he is eligible.

While the NBA previously welcomed prep-to-pro players such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, the league now has restrictions to prevent high schoolers from entering the draft. Yet this seven-foot, 225-pound power forward believes that he fits the criteria to enter this June's draft, according to a report on the sports website Bleacher Report.

In order to declare for its draft, the NBA requires players to be at least 19 years old and a year removed from high school. Maker turned 19 in February; however he is still attending the private school an hour northwest of Toronto. He will reportedly argue that he graduated from high school last year and could have gone to college for the 2015-16 season, but instead chose to do a postgraduate year at Orangeville Prep and play with his younger brother.

"We believe that Thon has fulfilled the academic requirements to be eligible for the 2016 draft," Edward Smith, Maker's legal guardian and a coach at Orangeville Prep, told Bleacher Report. "He will apply for the 2016 NBA draft and await approval from the NBA."

Maker garnered lots of attention not just for his length and athleticism popping out in video clips on YouTube, but also because of the unique journey that saw him travel from Sudan to Australia, the United States and finally to Canada. He's been heralded for his impressive reach and ability to shoot three-pointers, along with his work ethic. Some have projected he could be a good pick for a team willing to put in the work to develop a raw talent who needs to strengthen his lower body and polish his offensive game.

Maker doesn't appear to have the high first-round-pick potential of former Orangeville Prep teammate Jamal Murray, who just finished his freshman season at the University of Kentucky and then declared for the 2016 draft.

Maker announced his intentions on Sunday via a video on Bleacher Report, which he then tweeted. The stylized video montage showed him walking through an airport and reminiscing about the various stops on his basketball journey. He called his stop in Canada "a place to focus, a place to build my body and to spend one more year with my brother."

The video concluded with the teen declaring in his deep voice: "I'll be declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft."

Many draft pundits immediately reshuffled their mock drafts to slot Maker in. This year's draft is considered a little lighter on talent than in recent years. Most have projected Maker would be selected somewhere late in the first round if allowed in.

Kansas, Indiana, Notre Dame and St. John's were among the universities that were recruiting him to play next season.

He was born in South Sudan. At the age of 5, he, his younger brother Matur and his aunt travelled to Uganda to escape Sudan's civil war. Australia accepted them as refugees, so they settled there. At 14, the tall and gifted athlete was discovered there by Smith, the coach who would eventually become his guardian and move with him to the United States.

Maker spent a year playing at a school in Louisiana, then two in Virginia before come to playing two more at Orangeville Prep, where he also played with his brother.

ESPN.com reported that the NBA would not rule on Maker's eligibility until after he declared for the draft.

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