Landale hits the skies seeking an NBA place

ASK Jock Landale what he has been up to in recent weeks and the Geelong Grammar and St Mary’s College graduate rattles off an impressive list of basketball destinations.

The 22-year-old has had workouts with the Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks.

There were also stops at the Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks.

“It has been a process,” the 211cm tall Landale said.

He hopes the thousands of frequent flyer miles he has clocked up and the buckets of sweat will be rewarded with his name called out at this morning’s NBA draft.

He says NBA teams have indicated they are eyeing him as a second-round pick.

The draft consists of two rounds, with 30 players selected in each round.

“I feel like I’ve made my case with all of these workouts and had teams reach the fact they’d be keen on drafting me around 4550,” Landale said.

He heads a group of young Australians including Xavier Cooks, Deng Adel, Emmett Naar and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr who have entered the draft.

Australia has been spoiled in recent drafts with Ben Simmons, Dante Exum, Thon Maker and Jonah Bolden among the top selections, but there is a chance Landale and his fellow Aussies will be snubbed this week.

He should be a shoo-in after being a finalist for US college basketball’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Centre of the Year Award the past two years and averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds a game for St Mary’s ’ i in 2017 2017-18. 18

St Mary’s, outside San Francisco and with a history recruiting Australians, had one of its best seasons with periods ranked in US college basketball’s top 20.

Some late losses led to the team controversially being left out of the elite seasonending NCAA Tournament and robbing Landale of a showcase to confirm his draft stock.

Most NBA draft analysts d do not ti include ldL Landale dl on their mock drafts, but the articulate Australian, who earned a finance degree in his four-year stint at St Mary’s, hopes his intense workout schedule with NBA teams the past month resurrected his stock.

If not, he will likely be picked up as an undrafted free agent and then battle for a roster spot with a team during the NBA’s Summer League.