The US College Pathway continues to be a popular pathway amongst Australian junior athletes and there remains a strong appetite from US Colleges to recruit from Australia. The opportunity to transition from high school basketball and the VJBL to secure a university degree in a chosen field, often at no cost is an attractive prospect and provides a great bridge from junior basketball to senior basketball, whether that be in a semi or fully professional league.
The transfer portal and the academic equation for Australian athletes continue to be the greatest challenges. For example, the transfer portal prior to COVID would see approximately 300 male athletes on the list looking to transfer from one division 1 college to another. This year with the changes implemented by the NCAA in response to COVID saw over 2000 male athletes on the portal looking to transfer, just in division 1 basketball. We are consistently hearing from coaches that they now look to the portal first, where they can recruit a known quantity, then they look to Community Colleges (Junior colleges or JUCO’s) before finally looking to high school recruits. That said, there is still an enormous appetite for high school athletes capable of playing college basketball at all levels and who meet the academic requirements.
In terms of the academic equation, athletes are still often leaving it too late to start putting their academic choices in place. There are 16 core courses required for both division 1 and division 2 basketball, where most of our athletes are capable of playing. We still too often hear from athletes in year 11 or 12 who are more than capable of playing at the DI or DII level but are not going to be able to complete the 16 core courses required. We would strongly encourage all athletes to ensure as early as possible that they are going to meet the 16 core courses required to enable them to play at the highest level possible at the earliest opportunity.
In other news, Darren Smith (CEO) recently travelled to the NCAA and sought clarification on a number of matters, including participation in NBL1 which is categorically approved for Australian athletes providing they receive no financial payment to play prior to college. Once an athlete has committed to a college and returns to Australia between seasons, it is unlikely they will be approved to play in NBL1 and our advice would be to avoid this level of competition between seasons.
Finally, we are about to launch a nationwide database which we would be very keen for all Victorian SPP and NPP to register for, allowing greater access for college coaches to communicate with athletes and greater promotion of Australian athletes to US Colleges. More details will be forthcoming shortly.
If you would like to receive more detailed information and guidance in navigating the US College pathway, we at Basketball Australia Pathways would be very keen to assist. Please feel free to contact us on the details below:
Darren Smith (Chief Executive Officer) E: darren.smith@bapathways.com.au P: 0405 504 718
Adrian Newall (Chief Operating Officer) E: adrian.newall@bapathways.com.au P: 0433 999 941
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