because he hasnt played a game in college yet...he will be a freshman....they prolly tried to get him but he decided to go to college a while back...his first season will be 1 to watch

He has a real bright future but chose US College over NBL. Smart move IMO.
Could be anotter potential Boomer come 2012, and with real athleticism our team probably is lacking compared to USA as an example.

So did Martin Iti... Hopefully he can follow through on the hype (both real - and cheerlader/agent/hanger on/take your pick created)... Sounds like an intriuging prospect that said (if even 50% of the stuff i have read about him is true)- I thought he was more of a SF/pf though - definitely not a C...

Whats he done to deserve all the praise he's getting from the colleges?

In an interview i read (which i cant find now) it says he had his pick of the colleges.

ye he had offers from shitloads of colleges and theres big talk on him, hears an interesting interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aaoCGmH7j0

You may want to check the Boomers 2012 thread in this forum for some honest opinions from people who have seen him play, not just a promo clip made by his 'agent' Ed Smith.

Good to see that despite the poor management of BBall here, the quality of the players (both in the NBL and US College) is steadily improving, hopefully Bogut and Jawai will have a few mates in the big show in 3-4 years time.

It is all but a given that the Aussies will have at least 2 if not more Aussies playing in the NBA by 2012.
AJ Ogilvy will go in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft, and Mills may in fact join him, if not in 2010. Joe Ingles is likely to get picked up in the next draft also - but whether he plays or ends up in similar position as Newley is yet to be determined.
Newley could well be playing with Houston by then, and there is a chance players such as Luke Nevill, Aleks Maric and Ater Mojok could be there as well.

Same thing occured when there was the criticism of Majok in the Boomers 2012 thread, a comment about the general performance of great aussie kids playing in the US system.

It still does not take away that people are beleiving this kids press before actually seeing him. For the lazt people who didn't check comments about him from that thread - "Majok - the most over-rated, over-publicised, under-acheiver I have ever seen." - from some-one who has seen him. "Majok is riding on some Aussie reputation that he hasn't contributed an iota to."

There area number of strange things about his arrival at Conneticut:
1. The only D1 recruit to have NOT played for his state ever (if you think there are that many poor coaches at State Rep level then you don't know basketball)
2. He was a non-effect at the adidas Derby Classic in Kentucky, the only 'real' tournament he has played, even with Ed Smith as a coach on his team.
3. Why is he listed as going to Parramatta Marist on the UConn site when he attended Ed Snith's American Australian School in Sydney, as well as attending a Virginia and Florida Prep School, and still has some study units to go before he is declared academically eligible.

As was said in the Bommers 2012 thread "When Majok's play backs up his press, I'll stand corrected".

So stop all the BS. If you've seen a guy play and he's made the college ranks -talk him up. When you've just read about him it doesn't mean he can play. Ater Majok is a figment of a publicity seeking coach - Ed Smith, nothing more.

I am Ater's cousin. I am a biochemistry student UNSW and have watched the growth and development of Ater since he has been involved with coach Smith. I am also aware of many of the players that coach Smith have developed and helped get to the United States.

NBL players: Luke Martin, Clint Reed, Steve Leven, and Anthony Susnjara all played at coaches Smith alma mater St. John's in Washington DC. Other players who played or are playing in the US college system include Martin Iti, Eban Hymes, Femi Akinpetide, Mathiang Muo, Andrew Tran, Majok Chol, Aleks Maric...

I have a picture of Aleks during the 2 years that he trained with us at Sydney University. He was cut from the u18 state team and continued to work with coach Smith and was selected to the world team DIRECTLY from our program. Coach Smith pushed him so hard, he nearly quit but his father, Stephan, kept telling him if he quit he would work construction with him. Matt Conacher, Graeme Dann, Ruben Vesmadian have all benefited from being developed by coach Smith. Ask the players directly and they will tell you. Don't ask the ones that quit because we work our tails off.

As you can see it is not all about basketball. Coach Smith stresses academic. I play for UNSW and have been inspired by coach Smith. He was also awarded the 2007 Humanitarian Medal from STARRTS of NSW because of his work with victims of trauma from the war in Sudan. He was runner up for the pride of Australia medal in the category of peace.

I am writing all of this because I am tired of all the crap that I see about coach Smith and my cousin on this site.

Some of the comments I have read as well as the following quote:"Majok - the most over-rated, over-publicised, under-acheiver I have ever seen." - from some-one who has seen him. "Majok is riding on some Aussie reputation that he hasn't contributed an iota to." is:

(a)Typical of a person who believes that only someone in Australia, who comes through the Australian basketball system, is worthy of merit

(b)envious of achievement by a hard working individual

(c)thinks he is smarter than the following college coaches who recruited him hard Scott Drew (Baylor)Bob Hugging (WVU),Jim Calhoun (UCONN), Gary Williams (UMD), Bill Self (Kansas),John Calipari (Memphis), Ben Howland (UCLA), Jerry Wainwright (Depaul) as well as the Scout Hoops who ranked Ater #28 and Rivals who ranked Ater #13 after seeing him play numerous of times including the Derby Classic where he scored the first 7 points and finished with 14pts, 2-2 from the 3pt line, in 19 minutes. All of these people saw Ater play in person on numerous of occasions (he spent over 3 months playing in the US in an academy organized by coach Smith) and came to the same conclusion: NBA Pro in 2 years

(d)Here are a few links of the people that coach Smith weaves a magic wand and make them write good thing about Ater. He sure has some spell over all of these US scouts and college Coaches:

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=1617

http://www.draftexpress.com/rankings/NCAA-Freshman/

http://slamonline.com/online/2008/09/top-5-nba-power-forward-prospects/

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/luke_winn/07/08/2008-2009-fearless-basketball-predictions/index.html

and just in case you missed the game (this explains your lame comments that he was a "non-effect" here is the link:
http://www.wazoosports.com/derbyclassic

and last but not least, the comment "When Majok's play backs up his press, I'll stand corrected" is atypical of the cyniscism, crabs in a bucket, guilty until proven innocent, backwards mentality that exist in supporting Australians who "give it a go". If Ater just graduates from college with a degree (like Martin Iti) he would have had a great experience in life. Until then I support anyone who has the opportunity to be placed in a good life for attempting to achieve their dream.

Well written Acouth.
Too many bashers going around when everyone should be supporting Aussies to do their best and having a 'crack' at making it doing something they love.

And I believe he is playing on a UConn team tipped to realistically challenge for the National Championship. I think I saw that they were ranked No.3 nationally before the season gets underway.

HEY YO' PEOPLE "WHO THINKS THEY KNOW IT ALL" YOU NEED TO LEAVE MY COUSIN ALONE.. THE KID GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO HAVE PEOPLE WANNA LOOK AT HIM, HE CAN PLAY BASKETBALL AND IF HE AIN'T THAT GOOD YET, THERE ARE SIGNS THAT SHOWS HE HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE A HEAD IF HE GET HELP TO GROW IN HIS GAME.. SO IF U CAN'T BE HIM, IT DOESNT MEAN U HAVE TO START HATIN' AND TALK SH*T.. I'M SURE U AIN'T BETTER THAN THE COACH WHO HAVE COACHED HIM AND THE COACHES WHO HAVE CHOOSEN HIM.. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS ENCOURAGE OUR AUSTRALIAN KIDS WITH TALENT, SO THEY CAN WORK HARD AND MAKE US PROUD..
SO MAH DUDEZ WAIT TILL ATER FAIL IN LIFE THEN U CAN TALK AS MUCH SH*T AS U LIKE, AND I WON'T ASK YOU TO STOP TALKIN' BUT FOR NOW SIT BACK AND WATCH.. NO NEED TO TRY AND BRING HIM DOWN..

Hhhhmmm interesting prospect.


Let's hope at the very least he has a great experience academically, because that will set someone up for life.


Though the way US scouts are all over Ater, he does have a decent chance of making at least the NBL, if not Europe or even the NBA.

Seen video of him, he has the raw material that hard work can turn into the goods. He has height, hopefully he can add bulk in the gym, he has a nice shot... if he can put that together into a fluid package he can hopefully become an NBA prospect. It will take a full season of college ball to see if he is that level, but you have to think training at that level, with his raw skills will at the very worst get him to NBL level...

he used to go to my school but left in (about) year 9 for circumstances no-one ever found out...

this was about 5 years ago and he was not the most dominant player in the competition; though he showed enormous potential, he never appeared to be a first round nba draft pick. however, he seems to have developed the work ethic for it, which is admirable

that being said, i hope he does succeed. not only for the sake of aussie basketball, but for himself. if he goes far, his performances will warrant his selection. simple as that

Some updated info on Ater Majok via this feature on AussieHoopsAmerica.com.
Here is link... http://www.aussiehoopsamerica.com/2008media2.html

yo pepz,,, ma man is cool and i believe he can ball @ the ultimate level,,, no doubt bout that....

hes officially declared for nba draft

turned out to be a bust afta all!!

wow look where is he now, the NBA.. what a great young man representing Australia at an international level.

Hate to nit-pick, but no one is currently in the NBA.