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American teenager Terrance Ferguson has been rewarded for his decision to play a season in Australia instead of US college basketball, earning selection in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Ferguson was taken by Oklahoma City with the 21st overall pick, which will place the 19-year-old alongside Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook.
The Oklahoma-born shooting guard made the bold choice to play professionally for the Adelaide 36ers in last season's NBL, instead of the usual route of going to an American college.
Melbourne-born Jonah Bolden had to wait until the second round, before being taken by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 36th overall pick.
The 21-year-old, and son of former NBL star Bruce Bolden, will unite with fellow Australian and last year's number one draft pick Ben Simmons.
Bolden is a 208-centimetre athletically gifted power forward who endured two unsatisfying years in Los Angeles at UCLA before turning professional and signing with Serbian club Crvena Zvezda, where his play in the Adriatic League impressed NBA scouts.
The 76ers also had the number one overall selection, which they used to draft Washington point guard Markelle Fultz.
Ferguson shocked US basketball when he opted not to take up one of many scholarship offers from elite American college programs.
"The Oklahoma City Thunder select Terrance Ferguson from Dallas Texas and the Adelaide 36ers in Australia," NBA commissioner Adam Silver told the large crowd in Brooklyn and millions of more TV viewers watching around the world.
Australia will now compete with Europe for elite American high school stars who want to skip the mandatory one year of amateur basketball at a US college and instead earn money with a one-year deal overseas.
Ferguson said he had been contacted by some players contemplating an NBL stint.
"Although he only shot 38 per cent down there [in Australia], those of us who have seen him a lot know he can shoot it," ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla said on the network's draft broadcast.
Fraschilla described Ferguson as being potentially the ultimate three-point shooting and defensive-minded guard.
"If you want 3-and-D, you want to build that program going forward around Russell Westbrook, you've added a kid who can really shoot it," Fraschilla said.
The news was not so good though for Sydney's Isaac Humphries and Melbourne's Mangok Mathiang.
The 213cm Humphries, who spent the past two years at the University of Kentucky, and 208cm Mathiang, a five-year veteran at the University of Louisville, were ignored.
The two big men however are expected to be signed by teams for the upcoming Summer League, giving them a shot at scoring an NBA contract.
ABC/AAP
Topics: sport, basketball, nbl, united-states, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
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