SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Head coach Chris Gerlufsen and the University of San Francisco men’s basketball program announced the signing of forward James O’Donnell of Sydney, Australia.
“Our program is very excited about the addition of James O’Donnell to the University of San Francisco Basketball family,” said Gerlufsen. “James is a talented forward out of Australia’s Centre of Excellence (formerly the Australian Institute of Sport), which has produced several NBA players through the years. We expect James to be tremendously impactful both on and off the floor. His work ethic and skillset on both sides of the ball make him a high-level prospect. Our staff cannot wait to get him here on the Hilltop!”
Hailing from one of the country’s largest cities, O’Donnell is coming from Australia’s Centre of Excellence, which is also the former home of current Don Josh Kunen and former NBA players such as Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellevadova, Dante Exum, Luc Longley and Patty Mills.
Notably, O’Donnell impressed for his home country on Australia’s U16 and U17 national teams, which included playing for Australia’s U17 World Cup team.
Recently, O’Donnell received an invite to the NBA’s Global Academy – the same academy current Don Junjie “Barry” Wang attended. NBA Global Academy is an elite basketball training center at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. While he was with the academy, he finished as a top ten scorer at the NBA Academy games in Atlanta.
Overall, more than 100 NBA Academy participants have committed to or gone on to attend NCAA Division I schools, and 18 NBA Academy participants are playing or have signed to play professionally, including NBA Global Academy graduates Josh Giddey (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Dyson Daniels (New Orleans Pelicans).
O’Donnell is the first signee for San Francisco’s 2024 recruiting class.
For updates and more information on the USF men’s basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.