Mills enters NBA draft
June 16, 2009
The stellar college career of Australian Boomer Patty Mills has ended after two years with news that the Olympic point guard has elected to stay in the NBA Draft. Mills had the option to withdraw from the draft prior to the June 15 deadline, thus retaining his eligibility to play for St. Mary’s in America’s college basketball system. But the deadline to withdraw from the draft came and went at seven o’clock Tuesday morning Australian time and Mills has decided to stay in the professional mix. The NBA Draft begins at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday 26 June at 9:00am Australian Eastern Standard time, with Mills among a group of Australians looking to join former No. 1 pick Andrew Bogut and indigenous pioneer Nathan Jawai in the world’s premier basketball league. Among those is South Australian Joe Ingles, the Dragons’ championship winning guard who was Mills’ teammate at the Beijing Olympics. Ingles has been based in Chicago for over two months and has had workouts across the United States and in Europe with numerous NBA teams, creating some buzz with his effortless long-range game. West Australian Luke Nevill, the 7 foot 2 centre from Bogut’s alma mater, the University of Utah, who was named to the Boomers squad in May is also draftr eligible. After four solid years at Utah and a senior stretch that saw him named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, Nevill is the ‘sleeping giant’ of the Aussie assault and with his size and skill may surprise come draft day. Twenty-two year old Boomers squad member Aron Baynes, a barrel-chested power forward from Queensland who spent four years at Washington State, is also in contention. After a dozen workouts with NBA teams Baynes was poached by Lithuanian powerhouse Lietuvos Rytas, the former club of Boomers Captain Matt Nielsen, and signed to a two-year deal to play in Europe, unless he is picked up in the draft. Sudanese-Australian Ater Majok, the University of Connecticut forward who tested the draft waters, withdrew in advance of the deadline and will return to the NCAA. *from nbl.com
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