Top Australian basketball prospect Roman Siulepa will sign with the Tasmanian JackJumpers of the Australian NBL Next Stars program, he told ESPN on Tuesday.
“I'm a local and I wanted to stay here,” Siulepa, 17, told ESPN. “Once I knew I had the opportunity to be a part of such an exciting program, I jumped at it.”
“Watching my teammates Alex Toohey and Rocco Zikarsky go through the Next Stars program and how they developed was key. I set my sights on Tassie and I'm 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 the NBA Basketball Without Borders Asian Camp MVP and the Australian U20 National Championship MVP. He was also named to the all-tournament teams at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament and the FIBA U17 Oceania Championship, winning gold medals for Australia in both events.
He is in the midst of an excellent season competing against men in the Australian NBL1 (second division), where he is averaging 21 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the South West Metro Pirates.
Siulepa said he also considered the college basketball route, as many Australians do, and was recruited by NBL1 teammate Lamar Patterson 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 if he decided to pursue it full time.
“Most of my teammates play rugby,” Siulepa said. “I came back to it after a couple of years and was still doing pretty well. Basketball was always the main priority, but the Queensland Reds interested me in coming to train and progress.”
Siulepa will join a Tasmanian team that has just won the NBL championship under American head coach Scott Roth in his third season since joining the league.
Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analysis service used by the NBA, NCAA and international teams.
