Cairns Taipans' Luke Paul sent shockwaves not just around the Hungry Jack's NBL but across international hoops on Friday when he committed to Duke University.

The NBL Next Star, who will miss Saturday's game against Melbourne United due to an ankle injury, will join the NCAA college system in the United States following the 2026-27 campaign with Cairns.

Paul believes joining a program like Duke, which has helped fellow Australian-born talents such as Kyrie Irving and Tyrese Proctor be drafted, is the perfect spot for helping him achieve his NBA dream.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst agreed with Paul's sentiment during a special episode of NBL Now x The Hoop Collective.

"If you're going to commit to some place in the US, it's a leap of faith," Windhorst said.

"If you're going to take a leap of faith, why would you not want to do it with a program like Duke?

"Jon Scheyer [Duke coach] has routinely shown he gets guys drafted very highly, and that's the path that Luke is on.

"Luke is on the path to hopefully having a great development year here in the NBL and then have a great development year where he'll be richly rewarded at Duke.

"Then hopefully, the plan is to be a high lottery pick in 2028."

Duke was reportedly one of many US colleges and professional teams that reached out to Paul after his exceptional 2026 FIBA Under-17 World Cup, where he helped Australia claim the bronze medal and was named in the All-Star Five.

This performance, where he averaged 15.3 points, 7.1 assists and 6.4 rebounds per game, saw Windhorst compare one of Paul's key assets to one of the sport's all-time greats.

"I doubt Luke's ever seen John Stockton play, but his career was defined by the size of his hands," Windhorst said.

"His hands are bigger than John Stockton's hands, but Stockton was 6-foot-1, whereas Luke is already 6-foot-6 with terrific fundamentals.

"Scouts are also talking about his shot form, which just looks so good.

"They're all as excited as we are."

1990 NBL MVP Derek Rucker added that Paul's journey is another credit to the prestigious NBL Next Stars program.

"He [Paul] is just another success story out of the NBL Next Stars program, which has produced Josh Giddey, LaMelo Ball and Alex Sarr," Rucker said.

"It's been a very successful entree for players to get into the NBA.

"However, with the changing landscape in the NCAA and the onset of the NIL era, it's forced an expansion of the Next Stars paradigm."

Cairns, who are 1-3 on the season, play Melbourne on Saturday from 7.30pm AEST, live on ESPN, 9 and 9Now.