NCAA Basketball: Biggest takeaways from the 2019 recruiting classes

8) Professional options put to the test

One of the best point guards in the class in RJ Hampton wasn’t even mentioned previously because he’s bypassing college to play professionally for the New Zealand Breakers in Australia’s NBL. LaMelo Ball, perhaps the most famous recruit in this class and another five-star point guard, is doing the same for the Illawarra Hawks.

These two are just the latest in the relatively small line of top high school prospects – headlined by Brandon Jennings, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Terrance Ferguson – trying their hand overseas before the NBA Draft rather than going to college, but it’s the most important test of the overseas option we’ve seen yet.

For starters, they’re playing in the Australian league, which has introduced a “Next Stars” program to entice top high school prospects to make the decision Hampton and Ball did by paying them more money and focusing on development. Brian Bowen was the first to really test this out this past season, but his circumstances really kept college basketball from being a legitimate option.

There’s also the high-profile of the players doing this. Normally, prospects that go overseas are largely forgotten about until the NBA Draft, diminishing their profile and costing themselves advertising dollars. If any duo is going to break that trend, it will be these two.

Hampton was a top-five prospect, announced his decision on ESPN, and plays for a team sponsored by Barstool Sports, who will undoubtedly hype him up throughout the season. LaMelo Ball has been in the national spotlight since he started high school and provided nationally relevant stories even when he was playing in Lithuania.

We won’t know how successful the Australian experiment will be until the end of the season and if players in subsequent recruiting classes follow suit, but Hampton and Ball will provide a solid Litmus test.