This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah Jazz selected guard Dante Exum fifth overall in the NBA Draft on Thursday night. Here's some background on him:
1. Exum is an Australian native. He was born in Melbourne, Australia.
2. He was largely unknown until putting on a show at the Nike Hoops Summit in Portland last year and had previously competed last summer in the FIBA U19 World Championships in Prague.
3. He did not work out for the Jazz before the draft, reportedly because the team already had Trey Burke in place.
4. Exum opted not to attend college, but if he had, he said he would have been an Indiana Hoosier.
5. He sought advice from Kobe Bryant before the draft. Some have compared Exum's game to Bryant.
And now he's a member of the Utah Jazz.
Exum. pic.twitter.com/zpETeMqa6f
— Aaron Falk (@tribjazz) June 27, 2014So who is Rodney Hood, the Jazz's second pick in the first round?Well he's a Mississippi guy, even starting his college career at Mississippi State before transferring to Duke.Here's a good story from The Herald-Sun about his Mississippi roots.Grantland also weighed in on Hood, arguing he was just as valuable to Duke as Jabari Parker, the No. 2 overall pick, at times.The 6-8 Hood started 33 of Duke's 35 games this past season and actually led the team in minutes per game. Her averaged 16.1 points and 3.9 rebounds.
Hood: I'm just happy to land at a really good spot. I'll be able to prove that I was supposed to be picked higher ... in years to come.
— Aaron Falk (@tribjazz) June 27, 2014bsmith@sltrib.com
Twitter: @brennanjsmith