Steven Adams' mentor out to find NZ's next basketball superstar: 'You never know where that player can be'

August 19, 2019

Kenny McFadden's Five-Star Basketball programme will help Kiwi players into American colleges.

Having helped create NBA stars like Steven Adams, legendary basketball coach Kenny McFadden is aiming to see more Kiwis crack the big time.

Setting up a brand new programme called New Zealand Five-Star Basketball, McFadden wants to see New Zealand talent given a chance on the world stage.

Based in Wellington, McFadden will hit the road in the hope of unearthing the next Steven Adams.

"They're all looking for New Zealand players, we get those questions all the time," McFadden told 1 NEWS.

"'Who's the next big one', so now we're in a search for finding them.

"You never know where that player can be. Down in Invercargill, could be at Kaitaia, could be in a small town somewhere in New Zealand. So what we're trying to find is that next five-star player."

The term "five-star player" isn't just a turn of phrase, actually a ranking system used with in the USA by the likes of ESPN to determine a player's future prospects. McFadden's camps will use a similar system, a kind of barometer for American colleges eyeing our brightest talent.

"Having those rankings gives college coaches, gives scouts, gives recruiters a place to start, where otherwise we're kind of just shooting in the dark," CEO of Hoop Brothers Recruiting Sam Tarrell told 1 NEWS.

"A player can be the most talented player in his city, his country, his area, but if there's no eyeballs on that player, then he's really going unnoticed regardless of his talent level."

Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Steven Adams is the only Kiwi to be given a five-star ranking, but McFadden is confident that he won't be the last.

"I'm pretty sure we got some. Maybe not right now but we will have some but within a year or two."

McFadden's camps get underway in October this year.

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