I can't see basketball in schools getting particularly relevant in Australia due to our very different structure to places like the US. The best school age players in the US play for prep schools. Here our best kids play in the national team, their state team, their reps team, and maybe some training with a youth league or NBL1 team. How could they possibly fit in school basketball wirh all of that. And really they shouldn’t try, as they will be risking their bodies breaking down.

DeepWombat - reality is that they do fit in school basketball. In fact in many places it is compulsory. Each level of basketball wants their player to train, and don't all adds up, and most coaches choose not to care about the load of their players. Put on top of that the individual coaches, who definitely don’t care about other load because they want the kid to turn up to their training. It is all too much and uncoordinated across teams and responsibilities.

There used to be a great deal of rivalry between Melbourne private schools, even down to the 'names' they had coaching them. (Not that those ‘names’ necessarily could coach school-kid level - many couldn’t.) I don’t know what the current situation is.

A good way for ex-NBL and ex-WNBL players to make a bit of money and give something back, even if they were really only pawns in a private school game of one-upmanship.

Yes the it was the same in Sydney, private schools used to give scholarships for basketball players. Some didn't like it so they changed the rules. Basketball is very popular still in most schools as all the Asian kids love it, the nba has certainly helped promote basketball around the globe, parents also believe it is a very safe sport, where there is a lot of concussion problems related to the rugby codes and even soccer football now.

It'll be predominantly the better resourced schools that contend most years like St Peter's, Prince Alfred, Trinity that can offer financial help and "prestige" rather than the typical high school. Then there's Henley and I believe Modbury that have an emphasis on basketball.
Trinity might not have the prestige of St Peter's or Alfred, but it's nearly the whole Central's program out there. And St Michael's used to get the Woodville/West kids and Westminster the south kids.
Then some of the other schools that are left might have a couple of div 1 kids and some lower grades to make the numbers up.
But it is a shame that some kids get pressured when they've already got a tonne of trainings and games. Some kids used to play basketball and then rush off to play footy on the same day.

Lots of schools have basketball programs. Immanuel girls won 12 years running. Rico handed out scholarships like confetti.

Here in WA Willetton, a public school, have always led the way with their program. I do recall a tall gumby being poached, via a scholarship offer, because of his height.

I'm not familiar with the public high school system though so have no idea who they compete against.

My son was having some days off because he is a referee. We never really told the school what he was doing, just said he was engaged in a sporting activity...

My son's PE teacher was telling the class that he would be absent on Friday as he was taking the school Basketball team to a school comp.
My son came home and asked what he should do, given he’d be 'outed’.
I emailed the teacher and let them know…

Fast forward a year and they’re now putting his name forward to the department for refereeing sports and his absences are excused…and his school pays him to referee officially at these comps.
Now he has street cred and I think that’s why involvement in sports is important and we need to develop it in the secondary years.