Top Australian basketball prospect Roman Siulepa will sign with the Tasmania JackJumpers of the Australian NBL Next Stars program, he told ESPN on Tuesday.
"I'm homegrown and wanted to stay here," Siulepa, 17, told ESPN. "Once I heard I had the opportunity to be part of such an exciting program, I jumped at it."
"Seeing my mates Alex Toohey and Rocco Zikarsky go through the Next Stars program and how they developed was key. I set my eyes on Tassie, and am excited about it."
Siulepa, a 6-foot-7 small forward with Samoan roots, has established himself as one of the most productive international prospects in his age group in several settings. He won MVP of the NBA's Basketball Without Borders Asia camp and MVP of the Australian U20 National Championship. He was also named to all-tournament teams at the Albert Schweitzer tournament and FIBA U17 Oceania championship, winning gold medals for Australia in both events.
He's in the midst of an outstanding season competing against men in the Australian NBL1 (second division), where he's averaging 21 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the South West Metro Pirates.
Siulepa said he also considered the college basketball pathway, as many Australians do, with his NBL1 teammate Lamar Patterson recruiting him to play for his alma mater, Pittsburgh. But he also had opportunities in different sporting codes across Australia, especially rugby, as he grew up playing the sport and was considered a high-level prospect should he elect to commit to it full time.
"Most of my mates play rugby," Siulepa said. "I came back to it after a couple of years and was still pretty decent at it. Basketball was always the main priority, but I had interest from the Queensland Reds to come train and work my way up."
Siulepa will join a Tasmania team that just won the NBL championship under American head coach Scott Roth in its third season since joining the league.
Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service used by NBA, NCAA and international teams.