The trailblazing LEVEL UP athlete development program is already making an impact at the Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra.
The innovative and data-led program was launched in September and has been integrated into the curriculum for the 30-plus athletes enrolled at the CoE.
The purpose: create an environment that encourages athletes to excel in totality. As players, as teammates, and as people.
The CoE is historically renowned for producing elite basketball talent with historic variations of the pathway producing household names of Australian basketball.
And the next wave has arrived.
Currently, there are 33 athletes that have spent time at the AIS at the CoE or NBA Global, with an incredible conversion rate to Division 1 NCAA college basketball programs.
Among the recent graduates, Jacob Furphy (UConn), Luke Fennell (Syracuse), Jade Crook (Colorado) and Emilija Dakic (Florida), Emmett Adair (Loyola Maryland) and Roor Akhuar (Fordham).
Nash Walker (featured in the content below) announced his commitment to Marquette last week as well as fellow CoE graduate Zara Russell (also in the content) who is heading to Cal. Earlier in the year Sitaya Fagan commited to USC and Marcus Vaughns announced LSU as his NCAA destination.
The talent in Australia is undeniable, and the role of LEVEL UP is to safe-guard and elevate that depth of talent by taking an innovative approach to off-court development that will support athletes in meeting their best performance and wellbeing, both now, and into the future.
“The landscape for emerging basketball athletes is constantly changing and initiatives such as the Level Up program play a key role in providing a holistic education for these young players to be prepared for the next phase in their careers,” said Peter Lonergan, GM of Centre Excellence & Performance Pathway.
“With an increase in opportunities both in the collegiate and professional pathways, providing aspiring young players with a well-rounded and bespoke education is so valuable and we are fortunate that basketball Australia and the AIS is leading the way in these sorts of initiatives.”
The LEVEL UP structure was co-designed with Lonergan, Sarah Graham and the AIS with the guidance of Rhian Bird, Head of Athlete Wellbeing.
Bird is a decorated professional in the space of performance wellbeing and development and structured the program from years of experience, research and knowledge of elite environments and educational principles.
"The depth of talent in Basketball globally is incredible, through the Level Up program we are hoping to set our Aussie athletes apart even further, ensuring colleges and other professional pathways see the diverse skills they can bring to a program - on and off the court,” said Bird.
“When it comes time to select, you want a player who can rebound sure, but you also want the player who can lead with confidence, is emotionally intelligent, has great time management skills and so on, but most importantly you want a player who is engaged in their own development,”
“That's ultimately what this program is designed to do for our COE athletes through the use of gamification, demonstrating to the world that Aussie talent is built different from the rest."
The pilot program of LEVEL UP is supported by Foot Locker which creates an organic extension of the brand’s ongoing collaboration with Basketball Australia. Their support of the initiative is a continuation of a championing role of basketball pathways across the country at all age groups.
BA will use the pilot period to conduct a robust review at the end of 2026, with the metrics used to refine a model that has long-term potential to be applied to a variety of national team and high-performance environments.
ABOUT | CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
The Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence (CoE) – formerly National Intensive Training Centre Program (NITCP) and AIS Basketball Program has been the world-leading junior development program since 1981.
Dedicated to the development of future Boomers and Opals, the scholarship athletes gain access to the country’s elite service providers and world-class facilities based at the AIS in Canberra. The program takes a holistic approach to the development of elite international athletes and integrates education, basketball services, sports science and personal excellence into its daily training environment.
For more information on the Centre of Excellence, click here.
ABOUT | FOOT LOCKER
Foot Locker are the current naming rights partner for all National Championships (U14, U16, U18 & U20), National Schools Championship and U18 National Club Championship.
In collaboration with Basketball Australia, Foot Locker also introduced the ‘Foot Locker Defensive Player of the Tournament’ award for male, female, wheelchair and intellectually disabled athletes at each of these events.
Foot Locker and Basketball Australia also jointly fund athlete participation scholarships via the Sports Excellence Scholarship Fund – and have jointly done so annually since 2022.
