While scouting at the 2019 SSANBA tournament in Sydney, Australia. I came across and watched a young prospect, Ajok Malou from Melbourne. After speaking with him he told me that he'd only played local rep and was in talks with following opportunities overseas to the US. This shocked me because the young fella had some tremendous upside at just being 16 years old and had never been involved with any state programs. The kid was about six foot six with a huge wingspan and a natural feel for scoring, inside and out and a knack for defense. The point is, although these Australian state programs and sports institutes produce talented players such as the upcoming next stars for the 2021 NBL season, serious prospects are going unnoticed because a lot of attention is being focused into only recruiting out of the state programs. To combat this issue, high level Australian coaches should try scouting local players themselves by attending tournaments such as the SSANBA and other, before prospects flock overseas and slip through teams fingers.