Five years ago, Kyle Adnam graduated from MLMC with plenty of hoop dreams and he’s been realising many of them ever since. Last week Kyle, who began playing basketball at age six with the MLBC Lakers, was invited to take part in a mini-camp in the USA with NBA team the Dallas Mavericks — one of the biggest and richest basketball clubs in the world.
The 24-year-old told the Herald Sun before heading to Dallas that the opportunity to try out for a spot on the Mavericks’ Summer League roster was a “dream come true”. “I’ve just got to go there and put my best foot forward and really take in the learning environment,” Kyle said in the newspaper. “It’s a great opportunity for me to be surrounded by some amazing coaches and players and just improve. Any time you get put in situations with players of that calibre and coaches of that calibre is just amazing.”
Kyle has been playing in the New Zealand national league over winter, for the Nelson Giants, having won an Australian NBL title with Melbourne United earlier this year. Over the winter, he also signed with the Sydney Kings, coached by Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze, for the upcoming 2018-2019 NBL season. He was invited to the camp after being spotted by the Mavericks' director of player personnel, Tony Ronzone, while he was on a scouting trip to Australia. Prior to the camp, Ronzone said the 24-year-old’s visit would give him confidence on his return to the NBL and inspire smaller Aussie ballers trying to make the grade. “A six-foot skinny kid that made it gives a lot of hope for kids in Australia and I think it’s huge,” he said. “He’s going to go back to Sydney with a lot of confidence. It (the camp) will show him where he’s at, what he needs to do to get better and, after playing against these guys, he’s going to go into games against guys like Bryce Cotton (NBL Most Valuable Player) and think ‘well I’ve just played against three guys just as good or better than Bryce in mini-camp in Dallas’ — the fear factor gets erased.”
Kyle is one of the College's inspiring young alumni and is featured in our forthcoming issue of Connections in which he disscusses his career so far. Here is an excerpt: “Earlier this year, my NBL team won something people spend their whole careers chasing — an NBL championship. For me, it was a joy to share and celebrate this experience in front of family, friends and peers who had supported me and my basketball since I was six years old … a feeling I cannot fully describe. Dream big. Be yourself. It can be the difference between mediocrity and true excellence.”
Main image: Kyle Adnam (left) with fellow Australian Majok Deng and New Zealand guard Shea Illi at the Mavericks mini-camp
