Also was down at Alberton on Saturday and noticed ex Sturt Sabre Mark Paget rolling around with the Port Magpies reserves. From what i saw he kicked a few goals and apparently he ended up with just under 25 possessions not a bad effort for another Basketballer turn Footballer.

Also noticed former South Adelaide Panther Thomas McKenzie playing C grade for Brighton a couple of weeks ago...another burgeoning football career!!!

Talking about basketballers turning to AFL.
Take a look at the Sturt FC juniors who made state football this year.
This Sturt BC junior only played a handfull of SANFL games and is now considered to have a very bright AFL future.
(U18yo so name withheld on forum)
Well done lad.

You talking about the man who's initials are S.D? Pick 3 to the GC is very likely. I didn't know we weren't allowed to say their names but if that's the case there is a 16 year old Sturt Sabres young gun who was recently a part of the latest AIS-AFL Academy intake. 200cm+ and amazingly agile. I can't wait to see how he turns out.

Seamus McNamara and Daniel Bass are the latest examples of converts hoping to become ruckmen. McNamara, an American, has shown huge progress in the last year apparently and is expected to play league footy for Collingscum next year. I haven't seen Bass do much in the SANFL ressies but apparently he's progressing well too. He's a West Adelaide boy as well so that's pretty good company for Molitor to have.

Could definitely be worth a shot from a Crows perspective. The retirement of the big 4 means we only have one veteran outside the list (Doughty), so that gives us an extra rookie pick. We've just lost Donnelly who was a one in a million shot so why not grab another.

BG mate.

Not sure who SD is XztatiK but yes I was refering to BG
BiG future, (sorry bad pun)

Can you say who SD is or is he under 18yo

Oh right lol well great call on BG then!

I'm pretty sure Sam Day is 18, not sure who he played ball for though. I think it was Forrestville actually. My bad.

Yeah he played for forrestville

I don't get the hype about average ballers becoming average footy players

Was Kurt Tippett an average basketballer?

Very interesting to hear about Pag. Pretty good underage footballer from what I hear. Would have a good mobility as a ruckman/forward.

@ushiro didn't play in the NBL,didn't play for the Australian mens team. Lots of kids have played for Australia as juniors that have become average NBL players at best. Sure making the NBL is an achievement but if you dont get to play or have an influence i would say you are average

theres alot of footy players out there who were pretty good basketallballers apparently. Daniel pearce and robbie gray just to name two. Sam Day apparently has a choice between going to the U.S and playing baseball, continuing AFL and being a top 5 draft pick or havig a go at havng an NBL futre

Also believe Scott Pendlebury from Collingwood was at the AIS for basketball and is now one of the best players in AFL.

@ KB3. I was not aware of what level Kurt Tippett achieved with his Basketball so more of a query about that part. He certainly has come from a predominantly Basketball background through to potentially become an AFL star which was my point.

The big men with the basketball backgrounds seem to be a lot better all round players than one who comes purely from a football background.

Jack Watts is another who either went or was going to the AIS for hoops but chose footy, and was drafted first overall.

Players off the top of my head with basketball background: Brogan, Chaplin, Pearce, Gray, Davenport and Bass (all PAFC), Tippett and Ricky Henderson (Crows), Pendlebury, Watts.

Overall I think that those players are generally more agile than other players at the equivalent size, and good decision makers/vision.

I'm sure there are many others than what I've listed.

I think he meant in Australia, unless you are as good as those stated playing over seas, there IS much more money in football within our country.

Funny that there is a 2010 Toyota AFL advertisement on this page of a basketball website!!! Lol...

Just look at Dean Brogan,what an athlete-first champs with 36ers then Port power.

Just look at Dean Brogan,what an athlete-first champs with 36ers then Port power.

there is a lad playing for woodville / west torrens and is a western u18 div 2 player (would play div 1 at any club) also kicking plenty of goals at full forward with big wraps - well done lad.

812- this player has already recieved good write-ups in the Crow-Tiser about attracting interest from GWS for their team in 2011. good luck to him- a great athlete.

Actually Brogan wasnt the first NBL Championship player to play VFL/AFL, although he is the only one to pick up a premiership in VFL/AFL as well. That honour went to the late Mike Parsons.

Michael "Mike" Parsons (3 October 1960 - 24 April 2009) was a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the VFL/AFL and North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

Parsons was initially a National Basketball League player during the early 1980s, when he spent time with both Launceston Casino City and the West Adelaide Bearcats. Most notably, he played at Launceston in the 1981 NBL Season, where they were League Champions.

Parsons, a ruckman, is best remembered in football circles for his Jack Oatey Medal winning performance in North Adelaide's 1987 SANFL Grand Final win. He was then recruited to Sydney with the tenth pick in the 1987 VFL Draft but struggled to make an impact in his three years, although he gathered three Brownlow Medal votes for his 23 disposal effort in a match against the West Coast Eagles midway through his first season. Parsons returned to North Adelaide in 1991 and finished the year as a member of another premiership team.

In 2008, Parsons suffered a stroke and was revealed to be suffering from a brain tumour. He died in hospital on 24 April 2009

*Bass plays for South, not West. My mistake.

Tippa was a development player for the Brisbane Bullets.

Mark Worthington was looked at by the swans but chose basketball at the last minute, as a swans fan i'm happy they didn't pick him up, as a boomers fan, i wish he'd done a plumbing apprenticeship instead.

This just shows how much of of a joke baketball sa is.
I had 2 boys play baketball from u10s and was involved as scorer, team manager, helper, fundraiser, etc like most parents.All Ive seen from many years involved in this sport is that unless your at a chosen clud, eg sturt, or hang out with the right "crowd", it doesn,t matter how well your kid plays the game. My advice to anyone that asks me about their boy playing this sport is "buy a gokart"

i agree gil cameron, i plaed basketball for heaps for years in div 2 teams for woodville and there were so much politics involved. I went to kayaking and went to a few nationals and stuff but have recently taken up the one sport i really enjoy- motorsport through go karting. Its great! best decision I have made