The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans have welcomed their first new player MOJAVE KING to town, as the 17-year old officially makes the move to the Far North to settle into his new home. King joins the club on a three-year deal as part of the NBL\u2019s Next Stars program, which contracts Draft eligible players in order to prepare and fast-track them to the NBA, providing an alternative option to attending college.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the local media for the first time today, the projected first round Draft pick admitted that he turned down several offers from big US colleges to join the Taipans.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying in college would\u2019ve been great, but the opportunity to come here and learn from pro athletes, play against pros \u2013 I feel like that is going to do a better job of developing me and helping me get to where I want to go. Whether that\u2019s getting to the NBA or becoming the best player I can be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like my style of play would fit very well with the way the Taipans play \u2013 I like getting out in lanes and running. They play fast and it looks like they had a lot of fun last season. That\u2019s something I want to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taipans Head Coach Mike Kelly said that despite the current Queensland restrictions, it will still be beneficial that King has arrived in Cairns so early in the off-season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to see Mojave here, we\u2019ve been talking to him over the last few months and he\u2019s been all over the world. First down in Canberra at the NBA Global Academy and then out to the States to work out with some great trainers in southern California. He\u2019s a great young guy and I\u2019m getting to know him better every day. I can\u2019t wait to get him on the floor and start to build that basketball relationship,\u201d said Kelly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe aren\u2019t allowed do anything on court right now, but instead \u2013 we\u2019ll get to talk and go through everything we ran last season and watch film together. Hopefully restrictions will lift soon so we can start to train. I\u2019ve seen that other codes and other states are training, so hopefully we\u2019ll be able to do that fairly quickly too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reigning NBL Coach of the Year also said that King\u2019s attitude has impressed him, and that the new NBL-ABLPA rules (featuring reduced rosters) for the 2020-21 season may see him gain additional experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we agreed to terms with Mojave, he took a leap of faith and said, \u201cI want to earn my time.\u201d I loved hearing that. He just said \u2013 I\u2019m willing to come in and learn and fight for minutes, so you know he\u2019s got some belief in himself and now he\u2019s going to have more responsibility because there is a smaller roster, and there is more opportunities for him than when he originally signed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans have welcomed their first new player MOJAVE KING to town, as the 17-year old officially makes the move to the Far North to settle into his new home<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[389],"tags":[6280,12687],"rumors":[407],"typology":[185],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-148689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australia","tag-cairns-taipans","tag-mojave-king-en","rumors-basket-rumors","typology-official"],"yoast_head":"\n