Five-star guard RJ Hampton to play in Australian NBL, rejects Kansas, Memphis, Texas

BleedGopher

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per CBS:

Five-star Class of 2019 guard RJ Hampton announced Tuesday morning he intends to forgo college and will play professionally in Australia and New Zealand this season in preparation for the 2020 NBA Draft.

Hampton's decision is one of the first of its kind. Many players have blazed the same path due to shaky academic standing, but Hampton is willingly choosing to spurn college for professional basketball in Australia in part because he feels it gives him the best shot to reach his goals.

"My dream has never been to play college basketball," Hampton said on ESPN's "Get Up" on Tuesday. "My dream has always been to get to the next level and to play in the NBA. I think the best route for me is to live like a pro and play with grown men everyday, and not have to juggle books and basketball and just focus on my main goal."

Hampton's father emphasized that his son is making this move with an eye on the NBA.

"I think he's ready, that's why we weren't going back to high school," Hampton told 247Sports. "It's never been a dream of his to play college basketball, it's been a dream of his to use college basketball as a vehicle to get to the NBA.

Hampton will play in the Australian National Basketball League and has signed a contract with the New Zealand Breakers. He chose this route over offers from Texas Tech, Kansas and Memphis, the three finalists that were eliminated with his surprising decision.

Hampton is a 6-foot-5, 185-pound combo guard from Little Elm, Texas. He reclassified from the 2020 class to 2019 earlier this spring with an eye on becoming eligible for the 2020 NBA Draft, where he's likely to be a lottery pick. He's ranked in the 247Sports Composite as the No. 5 overall player in the 2019 class.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...ralian-nbl-rejects-kansas-memphis-texas-tech/

Go Gophers!!
 

I love the kids honesty. He'll make enough money to pay his way through college later on, if he wishes, but now he's focused on his career as a basketball player. I wish more kids had this forthright approach to the game.
 



per CBS:

Five-star Class of 2019 guard RJ Hampton announced Tuesday morning he intends to forgo college and will play professionally in Australia and New Zealand this season in preparation for the 2020 NBA Draft.

Hampton's decision is one of the first of its kind. Many players have blazed the same path due to shaky academic standing, but Hampton is willingly choosing to spurn college for professional basketball in Australia in part because he feels it gives him the best shot to reach his goals.

"My dream has never been to play college basketball," Hampton said on ESPN's "Get Up" on Tuesday. "My dream has always been to get to the next level and to play in the NBA. I think the best route for me is to live like a pro and play with grown men everyday, and not have to juggle books and basketball and just focus on my main goal.".

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...ralian-nbl-rejects-kansas-memphis-texas-tech/

Go Gophers!!

If he wants to avoid classes and books and just focus on basketball, join the Tarheels, problem solved.
 


I love the kids honesty. He'll make enough money to pay his way through college later on, if he wishes, but now he's focused on his career as a basketball player. I wish more kids had this forthright approach to the game.

I think a lot of them do. Until the NBA changes it's draft eligibility rules, this will present a realistic option for elite players. It isn't for everyone. Living on your own 16,000 miles away from home as an 18 year-old is not as easy as some people think. Hopefully, the families are giving them good life advice and not just career advice. I know there was a guy years ago who did something similar in Israel after academic issues, and it was a disaster professionally and socially for him.
 

Did playing in college, on ESPN every other night, hurt Zion's brand or ability to play in the NBA? Until someone (maybe it's RJ) shows that you can go another route and still get drafted highly, it will not be mainstream.
 

Did playing in college, on ESPN every other night, hurt Zion's brand or ability to play in the NBA? Until someone (maybe it's RJ) shows that you can go another route and still get drafted highly, it will not be mainstream.

If any Top-10 players signed with the G-League, the bulk of that team's games would be on NBA-TV.
 

It seems a lot of their thought process is that this will better prepare him for the NBA, but I am not sure that is a sure thing. If he played at Duke or Kentucky he would face some future pros and future NBA stars, many on a daily basis in practice. A quick look at the rosters in the Australian league show a few NBA washouts and many guys I don't know. I can't say I know a lot about Australian basketball but I'm not sure this will prep him much better than high level college basketball.
 



It seems a lot of their thought process is that this will better prepare him for the NBA, but I am not sure that is a sure thing. If he played at Duke or Kentucky he would face some future pros and future NBA stars, many on a daily basis in practice. A quick look at the rosters in the Australian league show a few NBA washouts and many guys I don't know. I can't say I know a lot about Australian basketball but I'm not sure this will prep him much better than high level college basketball.
Dusty Rychart became a millionaire in the Australian league.
 

I think a lot of them do. Until the NBA changes it's draft eligibility rules, this will present a realistic option for elite players. It isn't for everyone. Living on your own 16,000 miles away from home as an 18 year-old is not as easy as some people think. Hopefully, the families are giving them good life advice and not just career advice. I know there was a guy years ago who did something similar in Israel after academic issues, and it was a disaster professionally and socially for him.

His family is moving to Australia with him.
 

Did playing in college, on ESPN every other night, hurt Zion's brand or ability to play in the NBA? Until someone (maybe it's RJ) shows that you can go another route and still get drafted highly, it will not be mainstream.

Both Brandon Jennings and Emmanuel Mudiay played their post-HS year in professional leagues overseas and both were drafted in the top 10.
 

I love the kids honesty. He'll make enough money to pay his way through college later on, if he wishes, but now he's focused on his career as a basketball player. I wish more kids had this forthright approach to the game.

Me too. Very refreshing to see this attitude, which is why I laugh whenever these kids claim they don't have any other options but to play college basketball. There are PLENTY of options (Europe, Australia, China and other pro leagues). What these kids really want is all the attention and "love" they get stateside from fans and talking heads before going to the pros. On top of that, the vast majority have no interest in school whatsoever, so I hope Hampton starts a trend.
 



Me too. Very refreshing to see this attitude, which is why I laugh whenever these kids claim they don't have any other options but to play college basketball. There are PLENTY of options (Europe, Australia, China and other pro leagues). What these kids really want is all the attention and "love" they get stateside from fans and talking heads before going to the pros. On top of that, the vast majority have no interest in school whatsoever, so I hope Hampton starts a trend.

It would be interesting to see the situation from the side of the foreign teams, or in this case the Australian teams. They want quality players of course, but already limit their Import players to 3 per team. Now if this really does cause a trend, do they want to just be a 1 and done feeder league for the NBA? Maybe they do, I have no idea, but it doesn't seem a given to me that they would.
 

Dusty Rychart became a millionaire in the Australian league.

I suppose that is sort of my question. Does playing Dusty Rychart prepare you more or less than D-1 guys? At that point Rychart I'm sure was more polished, but as athletic as they guys you face in practice at UNC, Kentucky, and Duke? Not sure.
 

It would be interesting to see the situation from the side of the foreign teams, or in this case the Australian teams. They want quality players of course, but already limit their Import players to 3 per team. Now if this really does cause a trend, do they want to just be a 1 and done feeder league for the NBA? Maybe they do, I have no idea, but it doesn't seem a given to me that they would.
It's just business.
 

I imagine he can get paid much more there and play against against mature competition.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Paid more--probably
Better competition--probably not.

The G-League might be the second best pro league in the world.
 

Both Brandon Jennings and Emmanuel Mudiay played their post-HS year in professional leagues overseas and both were drafted in the top 10.

Fair point, didn't think of them... I guess I am getting old and am more of a purist... watching kids play every week on ESPN seems like pretty good exposure but what do I know... I hope it works out for all involved.
 

It would be interesting to see the situation from the side of the foreign teams, or in this case the Australian teams. They want quality players of course, but already limit their Import players to 3 per team. Now if this really does cause a trend, do they want to just be a 1 and done feeder league for the NBA? Maybe they do, I have no idea, but it doesn't seem a given to me that they would.

I'm guessing they'd be more than willing for a couple of reasons. One, it might give them a player that can significantly impact their team on the court in a positive way even if only for a short period of time and two, I think they'd probably get a bit more media exposure in the USA if a bunch of five-star, top-25 or 50 kids started playing for their respective teams. It would force American media to take a look at getting those clubs more exposure in the states. The media part would probably be tougher to sell since it's overseas, but it might be enough of a draw for clubs to consider it.

As to the limit on foreign born (in other words, U.S. born kids) players they can have, I honestly don't think there are enough kids in a given year that are ready to play pro right away (in any league) that it would impact those numbers much early on. Of course that depends on how many veteran Americans they want to fill their rosters with, which could become a factor. But if there is an influx of USA kids heading to Australia, then yes, the league would probably have to start a discussion. I have no idea if it's the same for European clubs, but I'm sure they would take a top American prospect in a heartbeat.
 

Jumping to an overseas pro team could happen any time of the year. Start the season with a college team, and come December jump ship and head to an overseas team, and then to the draft.
 

per CBS:

Five-star Class of 2019 guard RJ Hampton announced Tuesday morning he intends to forgo college and will play professionally in Australia and New Zealand this season in preparation for the 2020 NBA Draft.

Hampton's decision is one of the first of its kind. Many players have blazed the same path due to shaky academic standing, but Hampton is willingly choosing to spurn college for professional basketball in Australia in part because he feels it gives him the best shot to reach his goals.

"My dream has never been to play college basketball," Hampton said on ESPN's "Get Up" on Tuesday. "My dream has always been to get to the next level and to play in the NBA. I think the best route for me is to live like a pro and play with grown men everyday, and not have to juggle books and basketball and just focus on my main goal."

Hampton's father emphasized that his son is making this move with an eye on the NBA.

"I think he's ready, that's why we weren't going back to high school," Hampton told 247Sports. "It's never been a dream of his to play college basketball, it's been a dream of his to use college basketball as a vehicle to get to the NBA.

Hampton will play in the Australian National Basketball League and has signed a contract with the New Zealand Breakers. He chose this route over offers from Texas Tech, Kansas and Memphis, the three finalists that were eliminated with his surprising decision.

Hampton is a 6-foot-5, 185-pound combo guard from Little Elm, Texas. He reclassified from the 2020 class to 2019 earlier this spring with an eye on becoming eligible for the 2020 NBA Draft, where he's likely to be a lottery pick. He's ranked in the 247Sports Composite as the No. 5 overall player in the 2019 class.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...ralian-nbl-rejects-kansas-memphis-texas-tech/

Go Gophers!!

Well, at least it's great to know that the Australian Pro League pays their players more then any of Memphis, Kansas, or Texas. I'm particularly surprised that's true of the first two.
 

Paid more--probably
Better competition--probably not.

The G-League might be the second best pro league in the world.
Depends on your definition of better. There are very good players in Europe who are either viewed as too old in their mid to late 20's, an inch too short or a step to slow making more money in Europe. There just not as young or have the measurables that guys at the end of an NBA bench or a G League starter have. Heck there's alot guys in Europe who fizzled out of the G League

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

Well, at least it's great to know that the Australian Pro League pays their players more then any of Memphis, Kansas, or Texas. I'm particularly surprised that's true of the first two.

With all the recent attention on the corrupt shoe company influence and the usual dirty booster money, the going rate at Memphis, Kansas and others must not be what it used to be.

I cannot blame this kid for going to NZ/ Australia for a few months, it might be a fun experience before the grind of the NBA starts, and he will make more money.

Then again going to class for few weeks, then abandoning the whole academic pretense and playing out the basketball season the way many these one and done guys do it can't be so bad either.

The whole mandatory one year in college policy is a big joke anyway and should be done away with, since it certainly does not benefit the kids at all and is just a sham.
 
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It's just business.

That's my point. They have already made the business calculation that they don't just take the best players in the world. They limit the imports for a reason. The same reason European teams do. Because the league loses a local appeal if it is just foreign born hired guns. One and done guys looking for a bridge year to the NBA would probably exasperate that.

Maybe their Australian fan base wouldn't care and just want the best players, but that begs the question of why the existing limit?
 





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