The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Basketball program continues to demonstrate its status as a premier training ground for world basketball talent with the news that nine AIS athletes, many only in their first or second year of scholarships, have been recruited to play for US college teams.

AIS Basketball has a strong tradition of providing a pathway for high performance athletes to compete in the US college system, with a growing trend towards recruitment occurring in the first and second year of athlete scholarships — previously recruitment only occurred at the end of an athlete’s final year.

The nine new recruits will follow in the footsteps of Patrick Mills, who is currently playing for Saint Mary’s College (California), including Cody Ellis and Brock Motum who will soon start with St Louis University and Washington State University, respectively.

News of the US recruitments coincided with a visit from the University of Portland’s basketball team, who played a practice match against the AIS on 20 May 2009.

Despite the AIS’s 93–85 loss in a hard fight against the Oregon team, Portland coach Eric Reveno congratulated the AIS on the depth and quality of its program.

‘The Australian Institute of Sport program has a reputation for producing talented young basketballers who are well coached and trained ... [it] is helping to develop talented basketballers who have the potential to step up to the next level and play for United States colleges,’ Reveno said.

Portland is the first of three US colleges to visit AIS this year, with Saint Mary’s College (California) and Vanderbuilt University to follow in August.