REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - Man, Basketball Australia has been going through a tough last two weeks. First off, there was "Tank-Gate" at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup with FIBA investigating allegations that Australia deliberately lost to Angola in the Group Phase. And then Turkey's Emir Preldzic knocked the Aussies out of the competition for good with a late three-point dagger.

But it wasn't just the senior Boomers who were rocked by bad news recently.

Talented youngster Jonah Bolden was ruled ineligible by the NCAA for his upcoming freshman season with UCLA. The 18-year-old was expected to play a major role for the Bruins this season out on the wings for a team that lost three players to the NBA Draft in Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams and Zach LaVine, who combined to average 41.4 points per game last year.

But Bolden, who played last summer for Australia as an underclass player at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship, will not be allowed to play with UCLA this season and will sit out as a redshirt.

Bolden was ruled a partial qualifier, likely stemming from his leaving Australia after his senior season had already begun there in order to move to Las Vegas and attend Findlay Prep. He eventually ended up leaving Findlay in December of last year and finished the season at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.

Missing out on the entire season will be a hit for Bolden, who will most likely be allowed to practice with coach Steve Alford's team this season. But the competition would have been good for the 2.05m player's development.

Now Bolden will have to wait for competitive basketball until the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship next June, when he will team up with Ben Simmons, Isaac Humphries and Dejan Vasiljevic on a team that could compete for a spot on the podium.

One player who Australia definitely hope will be on board for the U19 Worlds next summer in Crete is Thon Maker.

The 17-year-old is one of the most enticing talents in the world with many considering him a revolutionary player - a 7-footer (2.13m) with ball-handling skills and outside shooting range as well as amazing length and athleticism.

But, sticking true to Australia's bad vibe of late, Maker's recent actions have caused a collective "Oh no!" to come from Down Under. He is actually from South Sudan and moved to Australia when he was five years old and then went to the United States to attend high school.

Maker, upon the advice of his guardian Ed Smith, has since decided to move further north to Canada to attend a prep school near Toronto. Part of the manoeuvre has Maker considering taking on a Canadian passport in order to eventually speed up his entrance to the NBA.

When news of that made it down to the Australian basketball population, alarm bells went off. Maker has yet to play for Australia so if he were to get the Canadian passport, he could then choose to play with the Maple Leaf on his jersey - albeit as a naturalised player.

But the dream mix of Dante Exum, Simmons and Maker for the Boomers one day would then turn into an even deadlier mix than the one Canada are putting together including the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Tristan Thompson, Tyler Ennis, Cory Joseph, Anthony Bennett, Nik Stauskas, Andrew Nicholson and on and on.

Maker doesn't even have a Canadian passport yet and there is no comment from the Maker camp about possibly playing for Canada. The main issue the passport was connected to was speeding up his path to the NBA.

Still, Australia fans' nerves are shaken a bit at the moment. So you have to forgive them for worrying about something as big as losing one of the biggest talents in the world to another federation just before he's ready to finally wear Boomer green and gold.

David Hein

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.