The NBA Draft is Thursday night and Illinois College guard Jacob Tucker's isn't expecting to hear his name called. But that's okay because he's already been drafted this week -- by the Harlem Globetrotters.
Tucker, who won the 2011 college slam dunk contest, was one of six players drafted Tuesday, not all of whom have previous basketball experience. Seven-foot-eight center Paul Sturgess, the tallest player in college basketball history, soccer star Lionel Messi and 12-year-old Jordan McCabe were among the other players drafted, ESPNChicago.com reports.
Tucker became a YouTube sensation after his 2011 dunk video went viral (it's been viewed more than 4.3 million times).
"It's definitely an honor because everybody knows who (the Globetrotters) are and I know all the good things they do besides just playing basketball," Tucker said in a statement. "I've always wanted to be a part of something like that. I just need to look into the details of it before I agree to anything."
Not the typical the conversation just-drafted basketball players have. Then again, he'll be making substantially less than the soon-to-be lottery picks, wearing a funny uniform and playing the same team every night. Tucker's probably right to tread cautiously.
As for what he can expect with the Globetrotters, director of personnel Sweet Lou Dunbar has some ideas. "The first day of practice, we are going to have Jacob Tucker and Paul Sturgess go one-on-one. ...A 5-foot-11 dunking machine against a 7-foot-8 tower of shot blocking has YouTube written all over it."
We guess this means Messi will stick to soccer.