PRAGUE, Czech Republic– Dante Exum put on one of those transcendent performances that created a loud buzz among fans, media and NBA scouts attending the U19 World Championships here this week. The 17-year old prodigy from Australia introduced himself to the world with a break out 33 point game against Spain in the U19 World Championships here in Prague.
Exum, a fluid 6-6, 188-pound combo guard who will not turn 18 until July 18, shot 9 for 18, made 12 of 13 free throws, grabbed 5 rebounds, contributed 4 assists and 4 steals as Australia won, 87-76, Friday to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Spain had no answers for Exum, who excelled despite playing with a stress reaction in his leg that kept him out of the Euro camp and an ankle injury suffered in the preliminary round. He was fouled 18 times during the game.
“This is great,” ESPN international basketball expert Fran Fraschilla said. “One day, we’ll all look back at this and say “Do you remember the game when Dante Exum became a lottery pick?”
Nike’s knowledgeable global exec George Raveling, who invited Exum to the Nike Hoop Summit as a junior, went one step farther. “I think he could be a Top 5 pick,” Raveling said.
John Givony of NBA Draft Express raised the stakes even higher when he suggested Exum could go as high as 3, just behind freshman forward Andrew Wiggins of Kansas and another freshman, 6-9, 240-pound power forward Julius Randle of Kentucky.
Exum, who is one of the two most impressive internationals here, along with small forward Dario Saric of Croatia, is the future. He will not even graduate from the Australian Institute of Sport in Melbourne until November and would technically be eligible to sign and participate for an American college team immediately in December and still possibly be eligible for the draft as an international.
He could sign, play college for a year and a half and declare for the 2015 draft. Exum already has visited Indiana and is being recruited by a myriad of high major schools like Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, SMU, Indiana, Kansas, UCLA, Oregon and Georgetown. Sources says Carolina is apparently out because the school never kept in contact with the father and only called when it discovered the son was a special talent.
Exum says he hasn’t’ come close to cutting down the list. There is a chance he could just scrap that idea of college all together and undergo private workouts before the NBA combine. “It’s something we’ll talk about after Worlds,” he said.
Exum put on the type of a show that makes attending events like this worthwhile, leading Australia to a 33-21 point lead at half and continuing to pour it on in the second half when he amazed scouts by taking a pass on the right wing, pump faking just outside the three point line and making an explosive dribble to 18 feet where he drained a two to give the Aussies an 47-31 lead.
“I just wanted to get out there and win,” Exum said. “We had nothing to lose. I just wanted to leave it all out on the court.”
Exum’s family has American roots. His father Cecil played with Michael Jordan on North Carolina’s 1982 national championship team and his mother attended school there. After graduate, Cecil went to Australia to continue his playing career in the national league there.
“They loved it so much, they stayed,” Exum said. Exum has been playing ever since he can remember. “My father put a basketball in my hands the first day I was born,” he said.
He became a star at a young age and went for 16 points and 3 rebounds last spring as the World Team defeated Team USA, 112-98, in the Nike Hoop summit in Portland, impressing scouts with his speed, fluid game, unselfishness, ball handling ability and capacity to make plays from the wing. He has used those skills to put Australia in position to play with the top tier age group teams in the world.
“This win over Spain means a lot,” he said. “We’ve been trying to get medals. That’s everyone’s goal, but that’s our main goal. From our 17s now, hopefully we can get another medal.”
