Victorian representative Carlin Briggs is set to head to Canberra after earning a scholarship to the NBA Global Academy.
Joining the NBA Global Academy - based at the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra – this July, Briggs will join Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels as recent Victorians to participate in the academy.
Being part of the Academy’s worldwide talent, Briggs said he was excited to get started in Canberra and work alongside the best up-and-coming basketball talent and coaching staff on a daily basis.
“It feels great to be accepted into the NBA Global Academy,” Briggs said. “I know it’s the next step I need to take to reach my goals and it’s a great opportunity for me to develop my game - I knew it was the best choice for me to make.
“Playing against and competing with the best guys around the world and just being in that elite environment – where the sole focus is to become the best basketball player possible.”
It caps off an incredible couple of months for Briggs who represented Victoria Metropolitan at the Australian Junior Championships in April and was also named to his first Australian team.
Briggs, alongside fellow Victorian representatives Kristian Ferronato, Austin Rapp and Tristan Devers, will be part of the Crocs line up for the FIBA Asia Championships and FIBA U17 World Cup.
To have all these amazing achievements line up for him in such a short period of time was a bit of a shock, but Briggs is excited to see it come into focus through his hard work.
“It’s all come together so quickly and it’s been a bit of a shock to be honest – great to see that the hard work is starting to pay off and the stuff that I’ve been working towards is beginning to happen,” Briggs said. “It was unreal – it’s been one of my goals to represent my country for a long time, and I didn’t know it was going to happen this early but it’s great.
“It’s amazing to have four Vics in the team – I’m really close with all of them and love playing with them – so it’s going to be really fun and a great experience to head overseas.”
NBA Global Academy Technical Director Marty Clarke said Briggs, alongside fellow scholarship holders, would be a brilliant addition to the list of talented young Australians in the elite Academy environment.
“The NBA GA staff are excited to have Carlin, Roman and James accept their offer of scholarships and are looking forward to working with them,” Clarke said. “The three young athletes have good size and great athleticism for their respective positions, Carlin as a combo guard, Roman as a versatile forward and James will be working toward becoming a stretch 4.
“Their ability to play hard, willingness to accept coaching, desire to compete will be a necessary attribute as they will be challenged in their new daily training environment.”
