Cecil Exum

Exum was born in the United States in Dudley, North Carolina,[2] where he attended Southern Wayne High School.[3] He led their team to the 1980 state 4A title, and he was named the tournament's most valuable player.[4] As of 2012, he was the only male basketball player to have his jersey retired by the school.[5]

Exum played four years of college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels between 1980 and 1984.[6] He was a member of the Tar Heels' 1982 NCAA championship team that included future Hall of Fame players Michael Jordan and James Worthy.[5] In 103 career games, he averaged 1.5 points in 4.3 minutes per game.[6]

Exum was selected by the Denver Nuggets in the ninth round of the 1984 NBA draft with the 194th overall pick.[7] He suffered a serious knee injury just before the tryouts began and never played in the NBA.[5]

In 1985, after a season in Sweden, Exum received an opportunity to play in Japan but instead chose Australia,[8] preferring an English-speaking country after his stint in Sweden.[9] He arrived in Australia in January 1986,[8] and joined the Bulleen Boomers of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). He helped the Boomers reach the playoffs in 1986.[10] In his second season for the Boomers in 1987, he was named to the All-SEABL Team.[11]

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.[8] He debuted for the Giants in the 1989 NBL season[12][13] and won an NBL championship.[3] 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.[12] He enjoyed his best season in 1992, averaging a career-high 17.2 points,[14] 10.5 rebounds, two assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game.[9] He became Geelong's longest serving captain.[15] In 197 NBL games, he averaged 10.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game.[12]

Exum became a naturalized Australian citizen.[16] He and his wife Desiree had three children: Jamaar (born 1993) and twins Dante and Tierra (born 1995).[9] As of 2014, Desiree was based in Singapore working for IBM.[17] His son Dante also became a professional basketball player.[18]

As of 2017, Exum had been coaching junior basketball players for 27 years in Melbourne.[19]

Exum died in Los Angeles on July 2, 2023,[1] at the age of 60.[14][15] He had reportedly been in critical condition in intensive care at a hospital due to lung problems.[20]

• Basketball-Reference.com profile
• NBL stats