TEEN SENSATION TIPPED FOR HIGHER HONOURS
IT was the career-defining moment that put the Gold Coast’s rising basketball star Lilly Rotunno on the path to the NBA Women’s Academy.
The Hillcrest Christian College student last month became one of 40 female athletes selected globally to attend the 2020 NBA Women’s Academy Next Generation Showcase set to be held in New Orleans.
The camp provides athletes an unmatched opportunity to improve their basketball knowledge and skill, meet players from around the world and play in front of some of America’s most respected college coaches.
“I had no idea what the camp was but one of the main coaches at the Basketball Australia camps nominated me and so we did some research and the camp was perfect for me and my aim of going to college in the US,” Rotunno said.
Unfortunately the camp has been cancelled due to the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic but dealing with heartbreak is nothing new to Rotunno.
Trialling for the Basketball Queensland Under-16 state team, Rotunno was one of the youngest to try out.
“I was going up against some pretty good players to make the state team but I got knocked back pretty early which was heartbreaking,” she said.
“It pushed me to work harder and prove to the people who cut me out earlier that they shouldn’t have.”
Rotunno trialled and was selected the following year, and now finds herself in the Under-18 Queensland South side as a 16-year-old, all while managing club, representative and school basketball commitments.