Emmanuel Mudiay: The Best Player The NCAA Won't See

With the 2014-15 NCAA basketball season creeping ever so close, one of, if not the most highly recruited players in the 2014 freshmen class will be lacing up his kicks and taking to the court thousands of miles away from his peers.

Just as Brandon Jennings did in 2008, when he was arguably the most sought after high school prospect, Emmanuel Mudiay will be leaving college basketball fans wondering what they are missing out on, as he travels overseas this fall. Whereas Jennings walked away from a potential spot with the Arizona Wildcats for a $1.6 million contract with Lottomatica Roma of the Italian league, Mudiay will suit up for the best team in the Chinese Basketball Association, the Guangdong Southern Tigers.

Let’s face it, without the current NBA draft rule, Mudiay would have probably found himself in the highly touted 2014 draft class. So instead of having to get up early and go to class and struggle as an 18-year-old college student, Mudiay will pocket more money in five months as an 18-year-old professional basketball player than many SMU students will make in twenty years.

After turning down offers to play for traditional powerhouse programs such as Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Arizona, the high school prodigee was slated to suit up for coach Larry Brown and the SMU Mustangs. A short time after agreeing to play for the struggling American Athletic Conference team, Mudiay signed a $1.2 million contract with the CBA club. Similar to Jennings, Mudiay also inked his name to a contract with Under Armour.

While the financial details have not been made public, chances are high that the deal hovers around the same $2 million mark that was paid to Jennings.

At 6″5″, 200 pounds, Emmanuel Mudiay is about four inches and 30 pounds heavier than Jennings currently is. Critics were worried about how Jennings would be able to handle the physical European adult game with such a slight frame, something that Mudiay won’t have to worry about.

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Comparing the Chinese Basketball Association with any of the Euro leagues to some is like that of the NBA and your local rec league. Whereas the European teams are ultra competitive and winning trumps all, some liken the CBA to the former AND1 and summer league runs, where highlights and high scoring individual performances trump all.

For a point guard, having the green light to jack up as many shots as he can handle, isn’t necessarily what NBA scouts will be looking for. However, when you take the CBA and the Euro leagues and match them up against what the NCAA can offer Mudiay (taking the financial aspect out of the equation) and some might question his decision.

If he followed through with attending SMU, Mudiay would have received endless television and media exposure as a top level recruit trying to bring a team up to the elite level. Should that goal be accomplished, it would mean that the Mustangs would have reached the NCAA Tournament, in which Mudiay would be put on the brightest stage on a global level for a player his age.

Mar 18, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Emmanuel Mudiay of Prime Prep Academy poses for a portrait. He is a finalist for the USA Today Player of the Year Award. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /

So where does this leave Mudiay when it comes to what should be his draft class next summer? While it all depends on the need of the NBA teams and the order of the draft picks, Mudiay will battle fellow 2014 classmates Jahil Okafor (Duke), Karl Towns (Kentucky) and Kelly Oubre (Kansas) for the first overall selection. As far as competition at the point guard spot, the Congo native already appears to be well ahead of potential selections Andrew Harrison (Kentucky), Fred VanVleet (Wichita State), Marcus Paige (North Carolina) and fellow freshman lead guard Tyus Jones (Duke).

Whether Mudiay were to have played in the NCAA or not, either way next season he will find himself pulling on a NBA draft cap, however for fans of the college game, losing out on the opportunity to watch one of the elite young point guards in the game will undoubtedly hurt the college game, even if just for a season.

Emmanuel Mudiay: The Best Player The NCAA Won’t See This Season

By Steve Lee | Oct 12, 2014