Cecil Maurice Exum (August 7, 1962 – July 2, 2023) was an American-Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who played eight seasons in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the North Carolina Tar Heels, who won an NCAA championship in 1982.

Early life

Exum was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, to parents Johnny and Barbara Exum. He was raised in Dudley, North Carolina, where he attended Southern Wayne High School. He led their team to the 1980 North Carolina 4A state title, and he was named the tournament's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

. As of 2012, he was the only male basketball player to have his jersey retired by the school.

College career

Exum played four years of

for the North Carolina Tar Heels between 1980 and 1984. He was a member of the Tar Heels' 1982 NCAA championship team that included future Hall of Fame players Michael Jordan and James Worthy. In 103 career games, he averaged 1.5 points in 4.3 minutes per game.

Professional career

Exum was selected by the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

in the ninth round of the 1984 NBA draft with the 194th overall pick. He suffered a serious knee injury just before the tryouts began and never played in the NBA. In 1985, after a season in Sweden, Exum received an opportunity to play in Japan but instead chose Australia, preferring an English-speaking country after his stint in Sweden. He arrived in Australia in January 1986, and joined the Bulleen Boomers of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). He helped the Boomers reach the playoffs in 1986. In his second season for the Boomers in 1987, he was named to the All-SEABL Team. In 1988, Exum joined the North Melbourne Giants of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL), but was unable to play due to not being naturalized yet. He debuted for the Giants in the 1989 NBL season and won an NBL championship. He played for the Melbourne Tigers in 1990, returned to the Giants in 1991, and then played five seasons for the Geelong Supercats between 1992 and 1996. He enjoyed his best season in 1992, averaging a career-high 17.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, two assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. He became Geelong's longest serving captain. In 197 NBL games, he averaged 10.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

Personal life

Exum became a naturalized Australian citizen. He and his wife Desiree had three children: Jamaar (born 1993) and twins

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

and Tierra (born 1995). As of 2014, Desiree was based in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

working for

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. His son Dante also became a professional basketball player. As of 2017, Exum had been coaching junior basketball players for 27 years in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Death

Exum died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on July 2, 2023, at the age of 60. He had reportedly been in critical condition in intensive care at a hospital due to lung problems.

References

External links

Basketball-Reference.com profileNBL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Exum, Cecil 1962 births 2023 deaths American emigrants to Australia American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball players Basketball players from North Carolina Denver Nuggets draft picks Forwards (basketball) Geelong Supercats players Melbourne Tigers players North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players North Melbourne Giants players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen People from Wayne County, North Carolina 20th-century American sportsmen