speak to neil Gliddon at SASI - or give dean kinsman a chance to settle and ask him - or surf the net and ask the college you are interested.

I guess the question to ask is 'are you going to play basketball or study'.

Nothing stopping anyone going to College for studying purposes and becoming a 'walk-on'.

By going through an agent, wouldn't that make you a 'pro'. I think there are also some websites that allow you to post information about yourself on.

Also have a look at the www.ncaa.com and have a look at the directory of colleges. This has contact numbers and names of every college in the States. Makes some phone calls, write some emails, and maybe you never know.

Getting into the college system is a breeze, a large portion of enrolments come from international students.

Getting onto a basketball team is a whole different ball game though, they dont just let anyone in. I was accepted into 3 colleges, and not crappy ones either, but had no real intentions of playing ball over there. Unless you want to play div 2 or 3 college ball you had better have been to the AIS or a gun at SASI or State level...because the good teams scout their players for some period of time.

I went over there in 2001 i think. At that time it was quite easy to get into a division 1 college team. I found my own college at High Point University in North Carolina. I just emailed the coaches over there telling them about my achievements in BBall and if they were interested then i sent over a tape. There are hundreds of colleges in all divisions. You just need to do a bit of research of each college and go from there. I think that it is a lot harder now to be eligable for div 1 as i believe that you can not have ever been paid or play with people that have been paid in your team - so i believe that ABA players are not eligable for division 1 (not sure if they have changed that). There are plenty of good div 2 colleges aswell - Depends what u r going for, i studied and played but mainly went for experience - i would encourage it for all bballers.

It is getting harder, academically and athletically if you want to get into a better Div 1 college..Div2/3 and even communitry coleges are relativly easy.

No 1 hit the books, good grades are important...High School needs to be finished with passing grades..unless you apply for ??? read about it at the clearing house.

No 2 register at www.Collegeboard.com and sit a SAT test ($100 Aus) this is now only done via www.collegeboard.com for international students ...get above 560 and you are set for just about any Div 1 coll, except the very top ala Duke, UCLA Berkley etc. You can search on there for a place that matches your needs.

No 3 go to the NCAA clearing house at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net, read all of the docs on elegibility, athletic and academic, in particular what you have to send them as regards past school reports, year 7 and up.

No 4 get a lot of tapes (dvds now prefered) of full games that you have played. Not just where you have starred...and even then they are a little wary of tapes unless you have been scouted by them or are recommended from somone they trust.

Try and get yourself onto a US trip (there are at least a half dozen from Oz that go each year) in about Nov/Dec that will play div1/2 colleges. Show off your game and keep your fingers crossed. On theses trips you will get a good look at a number of colleges and what they have to offer, they will actively approach you if you are good enough and show them enough.

There are also a number of people in Oz who are active in the recruiting of Aussies for US colleges, there are certainly half a dozen in Melbourne...should be some in all other states as well...

Anon, what do you think I am doing!

I have had quite a few college coaches call me up in the last while looking for Aussie players. I have close contacts with quite a few big D1 schools ie Michigan State, Kentucky, Missouri State and then some smaller D1 schools too. So if u are looking to pick up a spot let me know. My contacts are in the womens depts., but if there are guys that want to get some names to contact i could get those too. But as Kate said above, just get on the net and email coaches of schools you are interested in, they will ask for a video and then you can go from there. From personal experience would strongly recommend doing it. Contact me by email, ask around someone will have it.

Anonymous, you have no idea what you are talking about. Kersten is coming to play for the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, not New Mexico State (Las Cruces). He will be a Lobo player, guys who are treated like royalty in NM amongst the hoards of Lobo fans and play in front of 18,000 fans a night. The UNM campus is beautiful and he will get a great education while playing basketball. It's a great opportunity and that's why Ryan jumped at the chance.