When people think of basketball in Oceania, most think of the influx of Australian talent to USA colleges and the NBA. NBA players Patty Mills, Andrew Bogut, and Matthew Dellavedova instantly come to mind, as well as current NCAA players Anthony Drmic (Boise State), Jonah Bolden (UCLA), Mangok Mathiang (Louisville) and Venky Jois (Eastern Washington). This season, New Zealand only has seven imports at NCAA Division I schools. The best of them are Tai Webster (Nebraska) and Jack Salt (Virginia). That will change in 2016, as the Kiwis will introduce three solid frontcourt recruits to the major college ranks.
The best known, 6-10, 263-pound Tai Wynyard is headed to Kentucky's deep frontcourt rotation. Wynyard will actually enroll in Lexington in December for the second semester this season. He'll either play very limited minutes later this season or redshirt and start playing in the 2016 season. We saw Wynyard in Portland this past April at the Nike Hoop Summit. As the youngest player on the World team, he struggled both in World Team practices as well as in the game against the strong USA inside depth. However, he then competed in the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships over the summer in the Czech Republic, winning a gold medal with his New Zealand team and earning MVP honors. Wynyard also looked in better shape, likely dropping about ten pounds and looked to be a different, much more confident player.
Whether that's enough to get him on the floor for Kentucky in the second semester is up for debate. As we all know, Kentucky is more than loaded up front this season. Alex Poythress (6-8) returns for his senior year and 6-9 Marcus Lee figures to get more time as a junior. Skal Labissiere, a 6-11 freshman recently cleared by the NCAA and a likely high first-round pick in the 2016 NBA draft, is expected to start immediately at center. Add 7-0 Australian freshman Isaac Humphries to this mix and that doesn't leave many minutes. That being said, if Wynyard doesn't plan on staying in Lexington for four and a half years, maybe he'll just go ahead and see how much time he can get this season. Whether it's this season, next, or the year after, Wynyard will eventually make his mark at Kentucky.
Another talented center from New Zealand, 6-11 Sam Timmins, committed to Washington for the 2016 season. Timmins played on the same gold-medal team as Wynyard in the FIBA U18 3x3 World Championships this summer. He's also more experienced. He became the youngest player ever in New Zealand's top professional league in 2013 at the age of 15 and has now played three seasons in the league. This past summer he averaged 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game for Canterbury. That doesn't sounds like much until you realize that Timmins was a 17-year-old playing against men. He also produced when he received more court time, scoring in double figures four times, including a 20-point, nine-rebound effort over 20 minutes in his first game of the season. He also had games in which he scored ten points in 12 minutes, 15 points in 21 minutes and finished his season with 11 points over 14 minutes.
Timmins is big, about 265 pounds, and has solid footwork and reasonable post moves for his age. He runs the court very well, better than one would expect for his size, and can score in transition which will be important for a Washington team that generally likes to push the ball when they have the opportunity.
Timmins played in the 2014 "AA" Secondary Schools National Championship, winning the Most Valuable Player award in the process and played well against Wynyard in the semifinals.
The third impressive New Zealand frontcourt player is 6-9 Matt Freeman, who committed to Oklahoma for the 2016 class shortly after competing in this summer's Adidas Nations event. Freeman impressed us more than any other player on his team of Aussies and Kiwis. He averaged 17.8 points over the four games and showed the ability to stretch the floor, connecting on 11-of-23 three-pointers. Freeman's overall game improved considerably from when we saw him last year. He has good hands, a nice touch finishing near the rim, and is a decent rebounder and passer. He looks to be a stretch four when he starts his college career and has potential to do more work inside if he adds strength prior to enrolling in Norman. Freeman should pose some match-up problems for Big 12 opponents with his size and outside shooting ability.
All three New Zealanders are quality skilled big men and all have a very high potential. It's the first time such high level Division I prospects from New Zealand will head to the USA at more or less the same time. Timmins and Freeman will (along with Wynyard) graduate from high school in November, which would give them the opportunity to head to a USA prep school afterwards to get acclimated to the USA and the style of play. Steven Adams went that route, attending Notre Dame Prep and getting some tutelage from top prep school coach Ryan Hurd before heading to Pitt and then the NBA. Either way, watch for Wynyard, Timmins and Freeman to make their marks at Kentucky, Washington and Oklahoma over the next few years.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball.