This year’s crop of incoming freshmen is already receiving a tremendous amount of buzz. Between Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins, Duke’s Jabari Parker, Kentucky’s class that includes the Harrison twins and Julius Randle, and Arizona’s Aaron Gordon, there will be plenty of star power next season in the college ranks.
But could another big name be joining them in college basketball this season? That appears to potentially be the case as Australia-native Dante Exum -- son of former North Carolina alum and ’82 NCAA champion Cecil Exum -- will graduate from his high school sometime this winter and could opt to join a program by January of 2014.
A 6'6 point guard, Exum could technically enter the 2014 NBA Draft since he born in 1995 and lives outside the United States. Dante turns 18 on July 13th and according to a report from Adam Zagoria, he’s eyeing college in the United States before the draft.
“[The 2014 Draft] is going to be an option that my family and I will look closely at, but for the time being my eyes are set on college,” Exum told Zagoria.
Exum already visited Indiana earlier this year and also told Zagoria that the other programs on him the “hardest” include Michigan, Louisville, LSU, SMU, Tulsa and Kentucky.
But Exum is going to have to weigh the serious prospects of entering the 2014 NBA Draft with the way he’s currently playing at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Prague. Draft Express analyst Jonathan Givony has been raving about Exum’s performance on Twitter, which included a 30-point second half in an upset win over Spain to reach the U19 Final Four.Dante Exum is slated #9 on the DX 2014 mock draft, but that seems low based on what we’re seeing here in Prague. What a talent. #fibau19
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) July 5, 2013
30 second half points from Dante Exum help put Australia in the semifinals in a major upset win over Spain. Amazing performance. #fibaU19
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) July 5, 2013
Givony previously had Exum as No. 9 on the 2014 Draft Express mock draft, but has elevated Exum to No. 3 -- above Gordon, Marcus Smart, Parker and the Harrison twins -- in a draft that is already being hailed as one of the best in the last decade.
While Givony is only one man with one mock draft, his opinion holds plenty of weight and Exum certainly appears to be the real deal.
Exum will have to weigh whether to attend college in January of 2014, the fall of 2014 or just forego college completely and focus on the 2014 NBA Draft, but his stock looks to be skyrocketing in a very deep class.
Scott also writes for NY2LA Sports and can be followed on Twitter @phillipshoops