On a mission to unearth nugget
IT’S not a secret the NBL’s Next Stars program has begun to flounder.
France’s Rayan Rupert was the only new Next Star in NBL23, with German
Ariel Hukporti signing on for a second season with Melbourne United, before sadly going down with a season-ending knee injury.
The man charged with sparking an injection of new talent into the program? None other than NBL encyclopaedia Liam Santamaria.
The former Victoria Titans’ development player has added a scouting portfolio to his broadcasting and other NBL media commitments.
He’s looking for the best of the best. The next Josh Giddey and LaMelo
Ball, who can come through the NBL with a genuine chance of becoming
NBA draft picks and bona fide stars.
One of his first jobs was to watch some of the best kids in the country at the Australian School Championships on the Gold Coast last week.
He liked what he saw from big guns
Roman Siulepa (Brisbane State High School) and Cameron Pender (Lake Ginninderra), but also earmarked the likes of The Southport School youngster Indy Cotton, the NBA Global Academy’s latest addition Luke Fennell and Pender’s athletic teammate
Lachlan Smith.
“A chance to have a look at the talent in our own backyard is a really good opportunity, because you can see them on the floor and how they interact with their teammates, how they interact with their coaches and how they handle big moments in important games,” Santamaria said.
“Kids and agents all over the world have seen the success of players like Ousmane Dieng last season and Rayan Rupert, so we’ll definitely head overseas to where the talent is.”