New Illawarra Hawks Next Star AJ Johnson looked at the success of NBL Next Star alumni when making his decision to decommit from the NCAA’s Texas Longhorns – namely LaMelo Ball and Josh Giddey.

Ball famously won the NBL Rookie of the Year award while a member of the Hawks in 2020 and has since gone on to be named an NBA All-Star in just his second season with the Charlotte Hornets.

Giddey, who won the league’s Rookie of the Year award in 2021, registered 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in OKC’s Play-In victory over New Orleans on Thursday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLxNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLxNBA</a><br><br>Shoutout to former <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Adelaide36ers</a> guard Josh Giddey ? ?<br><br>31 points ?<br>10 assists ??<br>9 rebounds ?<br>Play-in win ?<br><br>A huge performance from the 20-year-old ? <a href="https://t.co/cl61YCC0gb">pic.twitter.com/cl61YCC0gb</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1646369008248295424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I feel like me and LaMelo have similar styles, and we both like to play off feel and just making plays in space,” Johnson told 247 Sports.

“I’m trying to go off the same things that he and Giddey did, and I feel like they came into the league a lot better prepared than many other players because of it.

“I also want to get started on my professional career and taking it more serious so that I can really lock in on the game and try to be the best player I can be."

The decision to decommit from Texas came as a surprise to plenty within the American basketball community, especially given both the historic nature of the program, and the potential for opportunity for Johnson to earn big minutes next season.

Johnson says the added “freedom” of the NBL was a decisive factor in making the move to Australia.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">??&#39;? ??? ???? ?<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@illawarrahawks</a> have added projected 2024 NBA lottery pick AJ Johnson as a Next Star for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL24?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL24</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/0NOopIoqB2">pic.twitter.com/0NOopIoqB2</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1646618798756364289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“The college environment is a bit more controlled and about X's and O's and not as much about playing off feel and freedom," he said. "I feel like I thrive in more of an up and down system, getting up more shots and playing off feel but you are also still playing off of actions and stuff like that.

“This was a pretty tough decision … "I love coach (Rodney) Terry, that's my guy," said Johnson. "If I was going to college, I would definitely want to be coached by him and would go to Texas for sure.

“I just felt like this pro route was the best decision for me.”

Johnson has joined former UC Riverside big Lachlan Olbrich and ex-Melbourne United forward Mason Peatling in committing to the Hawks for NBL24.