Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Australian junior guard to visit Indiana
By Dave Telep
The Indiana Hoosiers knew what Jan. 1, 2013 meant to the big picture of college basketball recruiting. On that date, a new recruiting rule kicked in allowing players who are in their junior seasons to begin making official visits on Jan. 1 of that year.
From what we can tell, the first junior to make an official visit will be wing Dante Exum (Canberra, Australia/Australian Institute of Sport) making the long flight to Indiana this weekend.
Junior guard Dante Exum, a native of Australia, will make an official visit to Indiana this weekend.
Who is this guy, you ask?
Exum averaged 17 points per game for the Aussies, who finished second in the U17 World Championships last summer. He also made a splash at adidas Nations last year. Exum’s father, Cecil, was on North Carolina's 1982 national championship team.
So far, we can’t find any school that has dedicated the time and resources to make the trip to Australia to see him. However, that could change now that the Hoosiers will have essentially brought him back into the recruiting mainstream. I guarantee some programs' ears perked up and will now begin their investigation into the 6-foot-5 wing. While they’re doing that, Indiana will have already hosted him on campus.
The visit brings up an interesting topic: Do you bring a junior in for his official visit? Some kids may wait to decide, and if that’s the case you run the risk of being the first visit in what could be a long process. The other side of the coin says be first, establish the relationship and ride out the storm. In the case of Exum, a lengthy plane ride means he’s interested in the Hoosiers. Being from Australia, it’s not like he’s going to make a slew of unofficial or even official visits.
My take: It's a brilliant idea to roll the dice and bring the kid on campus. Since he’s traveling on the Hoosiers’ dime, he won’t be visiting any other campuses. They’ve got a foreign kid who is a long way from home on campus for his visit with no distractions and no other itinerary. Not only is the kid a talent, the timing of the visit makes sense and so does the groundwork Indiana is laying with the young man.
