Michael Dunigan (photo. University of Oregon)

I don’t have the exact statistics handy, but I’m sure of this: the NBA is a code that’s damn near impossible to crack. Of the thousands of potential prospects in collegiate competition and foreign clubs around the world, there are still only 60 draft slots available each June.

For some, seeing their replica jersey adorn store shelves has been a foregone conclusion since middle school, while others have taken a more unconventional route through minor league lineups and 10-day contracts. But whatever path is ultimately taken to the NBA, it’s undoubtedly filled with its share of surprises, sidetracks and lucky moments.

For 21-year-old Michael Dunigan, surprises have defined his path as of late, as he works toward that next lucky moment in his career.

It wasn’t too long ago that I first caught wind of Dunigan – a 6-10 bruiser now three years removed from Farragut Career Academy in Chicago – deciding to take his Midwestern talents straight to the Pacific Northwest and the University of Oregon in 2008. He was a McDonald’s All American and legit power post presence on the frontline. The kid’s potential was salivating to put it lightly and in a guard-heavy Pac-10, it was widely considered that the Ducks held the conference’s elite center prospect.

Two years into his stay in Eugene, Dunigan was dropping a modest 9.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks a game as a sophomore, while anchoring the team’s frontcourt on both ends. The Ducks meanwhile, finished the season going just 16-16 on the year. As the supporting fan base battled its own impatience, the real uncertainty, however, lay inside of the locker room. Oregon ultimately opted to part ways with its then longtime head coach Ernie Kent, eventually leading to current head coach Dana Altman’s hiring following a publicly drawn out search.

As the Ducks moved on from Kent and towards a different future with Altman, the program found itself in brief disarray, as five active players chose to leave the UO, including Dunigan. And after playing only two seasons for the green and yellow, Dunigan suddenly decided to end his campus hoop days last September in favor of a more untested route: Jerusalem.

Similar to how fellow 2011 Draft hopeful Jeremy Tyler left school as a high school junior to pursue pro ball overseas the year prior, Dunigan felt leaving early would give him the best basketball opportunity moving forward. Still, even many months later, he seems very hesitant to elaborate at all on the Oregon situation.

“It was a family decision. Nothing more, nothing less,” says Dunigan.

By turning pro early, Dunigan has been automatically placed in this year’s draft class. After leaving Oregon, he originally opted to sign with Hapoel Migdal in Jerusalem. Yet after seeing only one minute of action, he decided his talents would best be developed by moving once again, to Estonia – a place even he’s admitted he didn’t know previously existed.