Photo: Flowers' Instagram

Trentyn Flowers is the record-breaking eighth and, potentially, final Next Star to sign on for NBL24.

While NBL fans have been given time to learn about and assess the games of his seven colleagues for the upcoming season, Flowers’ signing has been something of a whirlwind for Adelaide coach CJ Bruton, who has admitted he thought the opportunity to bring the five-star recruit into his program had passed.

The former Louisville-commit has elected to head to Adelaide though, the side that helped nurture the talent of one of the highest profile Next Stars – and most high-quality graduates – in the program’s history, Josh Giddey, as well as recent NBA draftee Mojave King. 

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At a lean and wiry 6’8”, there are certainly physical comparisons to be made between Flowers and Giddey, and the 36ers have already hallmarked their former star as a key comparison point for their newest player.

For all the off-court uncertainty around the departures of contracted imports Robert Franks and Antonius Cleveland, Adelaide is blessed with a remarkably deep backcourt rotation and Flowers will be fighting a pair of Boomers for minutes at the point guard spot - Mitch McCarron and Jason Cadee. 

GM of Next Stars Recruitment Liam Santamaria believes Flowers can add a dimension to Adelaide’s rotation that they didn’t have prior to his signing.

“The 36ers have a number of versatile ball-handlers on their squad and Trentyn adds another dynamic playmaker to that group,” Santamaria told NBL Media.

“He was originally a point guard until he experienced a growth spurt a couple of years ago. He possesses great positional size and an impressive feel for the game, especially for someone so young.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Another One ??<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Adelaide36ers</a> have signed projected lottery pick Trentyn Flowers as their <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL24?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL24</a> Next Star ?<br><br>Read more: <a href="https://t.co/qV6IcX57ft">https://t.co/qV6IcX57ft</a> <a href="https://t.co/s296AlToiv">pic.twitter.com/s296AlToiv</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1691216438621876225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“He’s had really positive conversations with coach Bruton about Adelaide’s group, their system and his role and I’m excited for them to start working together in preparation for the season.

“He’s a five-star prospect who has a whole heap of short-term and long-term upside. He’s got a really bright future ahead of him and we’re excited to have Trentyn competing for Adelaide as a Next Star.”

It’s possible the NBL24 Next Star playing list could read as a who’s who of international basketball in the not too distant future.

Flowers has joined fellow American AJ Johnson in the program, along with Australian pair and former Centre of Excellence players Alex Toohey and Rocco Zikarsky, Overtime Elite star and French phenom Alexandre Sarr, Swedish talent Bobi Klintman, Lithuanian sharpshooter Mantas Rubstavicius and German powerhouse Ariel Hukporti.

At the time of writing, four of the seven 2024 NBA Draft eligible Next Stars are ranked in the first round by various media outlets, while Rubstavicius is firming as a second round prospect.

Hukporti is currently unranked, as the basketball world waits to see how he returns from last season’s serious Achilles injury, while 19-year-old Alex Toohey still has multiple years of draft eligibility, but could yet climb into next year’s reckoning.

Zikarsky is ineligible to be drafted until 2025 at the earliest.

“Over the course of the off-season, all ten of our NBL teams served as fantastic partners in the Next Stars space. Working in partnership with the NBL in the recruitment of a Next Star offers teams a really unique way to add a special talent to their roster and there’s clearly a great recognition of that benefit amongst clubs,” Santamaria continued.

“That’s really exciting, both for this year and moving forward into the future.

“The amount of interest in the Next Stars program continues to grow exponentially. All of our teams are recognising the benefits of partnering with the program and players and agents from all over the world are excited about what has become a proven pathway towards the NBA.

“I’m excited about all of the Next Stars we have in place for this season. Trentyn will bring a great amount of talent and enthusiasm to the 36ers, but he has joined a class of Next Stars that includes seven other super-talented, highly ambitious prospects.

“All of them are ready to work hard, help their teams win games and build towards achieving their dreams.”

After securing the services of eight of the most exceptional talents in world basketball for the upcoming season, Santamaria already has one eye on where the program could go next.

“There’s a general level of enthusiasm for exploring future opportunities to expand the program,” he said.

“Glancing towards NBL25 specifically, I’m looking forward to getting back on the recruiting trail and working with our teams to bring more exciting young talent into the league.”

Flowers and his fellow Next Stars will first be in action at the upcoming pre-season NBL Blitz before hitting the court in Round 1 of the new NBL season.

Illawarra’s AJ Johnson has suffered a broken nose during Illawarra’s pre-season preparations, however the Hawks believe he should be OK to take part in next month’s Hungry Jack's NBL Blitz.

For more information on the NBL Next Stars program, click here.