Matthew Dellavedova's rags to riches career is providing inspiration to the next wave of Australian basketball talent hoping to battle their way to NBA contracts.
The NBA Draft will be held in Brooklyn, New York on Thursday with Australians Jock Landale, Xavier Cooks, Deng Adel, Emmett Naar and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr hoping to hear their names called out.
They just have to look at Dellavedova, the tough point guard from country Victoria, for proof that a snub at the draft will not end their NBA dreams.
"You look at someone like Matthew Dellavedova," Landale, who starred over the past four years at Dellavedova's former college, St Mary's in California, told AAP.
"He went undrafted and could have easily been drafted ahead over 30 or 40 guys, but it worked out pretty well for him."
Dellavedova was snubbed at the 2013 NBA Draft despite a record-breaking career at St Mary's where he was the all-time leader in scoring, assists, games played, free throw percentage, and three-point shots.
He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was given little hope of securing a contract.
Dellavedova defied the odds.
His desire and aggressive play in practice and the NBA Summer League led to a two-year $US1.3 million contract with the Cavaliers.
Dellavedova's heroic play alongside LeBron James, including an NBA title in 2016, resulted in the Milwaukee Bucks signing him to a four-year, $US38 million contract in 2016.
Landale, a 22-year-old, 211cm tall centre from Geelong Grammar averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds a game for St Mary's in 2017-18 and the past two years was named a finalist for US college basketball's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Centre of the Year Award.
Landale is Australia's top draft prospect this year, but is tipped to be a second-round pick or go undrafted.
Cooks (Winthrop University), Adel (University of Louisville), Naar (St Mary's) and Lual-Acuil Jr (Baylor University) are all expected to go undrafted.
They are all likely to end up signed by NBA teams as undrafted free agents and if so will aim to follow Dellavedova's path by impressing at the Summer League, avoid the axe and secure contracts for the 2018/19 NBA season.
The NBA has a long history of players going undrafted but enjoying lucrative careers with Ben Wallace, Brad Miller and Bruce Bowen among the defiant group.
"Sometimes going undrafted is better than getting picked late in the second round," Landale said.
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