Understanding the magnitude of Mudiay playing in China

REGENSBURG (David Hein’s Eye on the Future) – There are professional debuts, and then there is what’s going on around Emmanuel Mudiay with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

For those who might not know the name, here is a brief synopsis of the 19-year-old point guard.

Mudiay fled war-torn Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) with his family as a 5 year old in 2001. He became a high school star at Prime Prep Academy in Dallas, Texas and committed to play at Southern Methodist University under legendary coach Larry Brown, turning SMU into an expected NCAA title contender for this season.

Earlier this summer though Mudiay decided to forgo college to sign a one-year contract with Guangdong – reportedly worth 1.2 million dollars – as well as a full partnership deal with Under Armour. The rest of the plan is for him to come back to the United States and most likely be a top five pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. 

Mudiay’s decision set ablaze a discussion that had died down over young talents jumping into the professional ranks before many wish they would.

In 2008, Brandon Jennings skipped his freshman year of college and played for Italian club Lottomatica Roma for one season before being picked 10th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft.

In 2010, Jeremy Tyler passed on his senior season of high school to play overseas for cash. Tyler didn’t even have the mild success that Jennings had, playing in Israel and Japan before he was chosen 39th in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Tyler, now 23, was waived most recently by the Los Angeles Lakers and is playing this season with Chinese CBA team Shanxi Zhongyu.

That would certainly be an interesting chat between Tyler and Mudiay when their teams meet up in China.

Just like Jennings and Tyler, Mudiay has had to hear all the negatives about his decision – being a bad precedent and negative trend-setter, especially if he comes back and is a top-five draft pick next summer. What’s to stop other highly-rated high school players from doing the same – many wonder.

"I think it will get worse. If he’s as good as I know he is and he’s the first, second or third pick in the draft, which I’m pretty confident he will be, I’m worried that a lot of kids will think about it," said SMU coach Larry Brown.

One added aspect to the Mudiay dynamic is that the NCAA is expected to tighten its initial eligibility requirements in 2016 and the NBA seems destined to switch to a 20-year age limit, which would mean two years of college ball – or other avenues of play for some of the elite players.

"If the NBA institutes a two-year limit and Emmanuel Mudiay does really well in China and comes back and gets drafted and does well in the NBA, I think we've got a real storm brewing," Rivals.com recruiting analyst Eric Bossi was quoted as saying.

So, now that all the background – and doomsday scenarios – is presented, how is Mudiay actually doing two games into the CBA season.

In the season opener, Mudiay, who has his mother, brother and cousin with him in China, struggled from the field, hitting just 6-of-19 shots for 18 points to go with five rebounds, two assists and two turnovers in 30 minutes in a 103-89 loss to the Beijing Ducks.

Guangdong bounced back to beat Jilin in the second game 135-111 and Mudiay was much better with 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting with nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals and six turnovers in 33 minutes. Those stats of course are in 48-minute games in China.

The season opener was the first game of the season that Chinese star Yi Jianlian played and Mudiay is also helped by the fact that Guangdong is loaded with talent, including Chinese national team plyers Wang ShiPeng, Zhu FangYu, Chen JiangHua and 20-year-old Gao Shang, not to mention Texas native and veteran big man Chris Daniels.

And what does someone like Pooh Jeter think – an American who is playing his third season in China with Shandong Lions. The Ukrainian international thinks it’s good for Mudiay, especially getting used to playing three games a week; getting used to the NBA rules; and facing the level of competition that he is, specifically at the point guard spot.

"Playing in China will be a great test for him. Playing against point guards that should be in the NBA or were in the NBA like Stephon (Marbury), myself, Bobby Brown, Lester Hudson, Jordan Crawford, Jonathan Gibson, Josh Akognon, Justin Dentmon, Mike Efevberha, so many good point guards that should be in the NBA. Since the NBA is his next step, this will be a great test for him," Jeter was quoted as saying on DraftExpress.com.

"I’m excited to see the outcome. I wonder if more high school players will come to China."

That’s a nightmare scenario for many, but in the meantime, let’s just enjoy the experiment and see how it works out before demonizing it.

David Hein

FIBA

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