EXCITEMENT machine Dante Exum has long been on the radar of college basketball scouts in the United States.
The 18-year-old from Seabrook showed why the recruiters are taking a liking to him with a starring role for the Australian Emus at the FIBA under-19 world championships.
The Emus came up just short of a medal, losing to Lithuania 106-100 in a high-standard bronze medal playoff in Prague on Monday morning (Australian time), but Exum’s stocks rose exponentially.
The son of one-time National Basketball League star and University of North Carolina graduate Cecil Exum took the tournament by storm, averaging 18.2 points, 3.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds in a combo guard role.
The Australian Institute of Sport-aligned athlete, developed by the Werribee Devils and Keilor Thunder and various Victoria junior representative teams, was named in the all-tournament team.
Being an overseas player, Exum is eligible to nominate for the 2014 NBA draft. But he has indicated he would like to play in the NCAA college system before committing professionally.
ESPN college basketball analyst and former college coach Fran Fraschilla likes what he sees in Exum.
He tweeted: “If you haven’t seen Aussie Dante Exum on ESPN3 this week, you’re missing something special.”
