SURF Beach basketballer Jeremy Harding is halfway through his first foray into Basketball NSW’s high performance program, D-League.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At the conclusion of the representative basketball season, Hard-
ing was chosen to join 40 of the state’s best under 16s players at Bankstown and Minto for the first two rounds in September.
On Sunday, he and his team mates will play at Hills Basketball Stadium before the finals on October 12 at Bankstown.
National Intensive Training Program (NITP) head coach Mark Watkins said Harding was quickly learning what was expected of him.
“He’s a bottom-ager in the D-League. Some boys are a year older than him, so he is learning about what needs to do to be a better player,” Watkins said.
The D-League brings together country and city players, which add to the competition’s level.
“He’s among 40 of the best players in NSW and he’s doing okay,” he said.
“Combining both the D-League and the NITP is a good starting point.”
The boys were placed into random teams before the first round and players will be rotated this weekend.
Harding said he had enjoyed the level of competition and found it challenging to face new players and teams.
He has also been asked to play in different positions, from the “two” to the “five”.
Watkins said the program was designed for all players, whether big or small, to be able to play on the outside.
“It’s based on the bigger picture of the international, NBL and WNBL stages where all the bigs and guards play on the perimeter,” Watkins said.