UPDATED 7/7/13: Dante Exum was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 18.2 points at the FIBA U19 World Championship.***
Australian star Dante Exum is leaning towards coming to college instead of entering the 2014 NBA Draft and right now Indiana appears to be tops on his list.
“Indiana was one of the first schools to show a real deep interest in me,” the 6-foot-5 Exum told SNY.tv from the FIBA U19 World Championship in Prague where he is the sixth-leading scorer at 16.4 points per game.
“So I decided to take a visit to Indiana earlier this year. Just so I can see their program and what they are about. But it will be interesting to compare them to some of the others school I want to look further into when I take those visits. It has always been a goal to play in the NCAA tournament. My dad has a ring and I always wanted one for myself.”
Exum said other schools recruiting him the “hardest” include Michigan, Louisville, LSU, SMU, Tulsa and Kentucky
Cecil Exum, Dante’s father, played at North Carolina and won an NCAA championship alongside Michael Jordan in 1982, but the Tar Heels are not recruiting the son.
“At the moment I’m not being pursued by them at all,” Dante told Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com at the Nike Hoop Summit in April. “They’re a great school and I love that my mom and dad both went to North Carolina but I’m going to look elsewhere. ..If they don’t want me I’m just going to look somewhere that’s going to fit me the best.”
Exum called himself a “big point guard” and also told Givony he compares his game to that of Derrick Rose.
“He likes to break down his player and get to the rim and finish and also create for others,” Exum told Givony. “That’s one thing in my game that’s similar to his. So I want to improve that and be like him.”
Because he was born in 1995 and lives outside the U.S., Exum could declare for the 2014 NBA Draft, but now he is leaning toward playing in college and possibly entering the 2015 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,” he told SNY.tv.
He will finish up his studies at the Australian Institute of Sport in December, and thus could join an American program in January 2014 or in the fall of 2014.
For the time being, he is enjoying playing at the World Championship despite suffering a sprained ankle.
“My ankle is good,” he said.
“The World Championships are always a great tournament and it has been tough for us because of the injuries. It has helped me to play against players who are already professional and play differently from juniors. It definitely a challenge with the physicality but feel my team and I have adapted well.”
