Australia’s elite young basketball talent don’t have to go overseas to forge a successful career through the US college system, according to UTS Basketball.
Announcing it was expanding ways in which local players are better supported to stay in Australia, head of program Paige Green said for many there were better opportunities to explore at home, including in the national University Basketball League (UBL), which has increasingly attracted the attention of scouts.
“Our ambition [is] to create a genuine pathway for more elite young basketballers to stay here in Australia… rather than taking the common path of moving overseas to the US for college,” she said at the club’s official season launch. “Going overseas should be an option, not a necessity.
“There’s obviously a lot of appeal to going to the States, and for some athletes it will absolutely be the right decision. But I don’t think we should have this idea that if you want to become a professional basketballer, you have to leave Australia at 18.
“Sometimes staying home and building on the relationships you already have with your representative club, your coaches and the local basketball network can actually be a better environment for an athlete.”
Green said the UBL, established in 2021, has grown to strengthen the Australian pathway.
“The UBL adds another layer to that. You’re getting high-level university competition, you’re continuing your education and you’re getting another opportunity to be seen by people within the basketball industry. We’re already seeing more NBL1 coaches recognising the UBL and the talent coming through it,” she said, referring to the official feeder competition to the NBL and WNBL.
It has also created a more accessible option cost-wise, added Green.
“The UBL itself is relatively low-cost to participate in, so the barrier to entry is much lower… creating a pretty accessible option for athletes who want to stay here.
“You can continue playing at a high level without taking on the same financial commitment that can come with moving overseas.”
The UTS program has seen several players rise up to a professional career through the UBL including Maddy Norris who currently plays for the Sydney Flames in the WNBL as well as Archie Woodhill and Alex Higgins-Titsha with the Tasmania JackJumpers and Perth Wildcats respectively in the NBL.
“[They] are pretty good examples that you don’t necessarily have to follow the traditional US college pathway to make it into professional basketball,” Green said on the trio.
The 2026 UTS Women’s UBL Squad with head coach Harry Beauchamp. Photo: James O’Donohue
Current Women’s player, Nikki Sainsbury, is looking to follow in their footsteps and has already joined the Hornsby Ku-ring-Gai Spiders in the NBL1 feeder program.
Sainsbury also spoke at the season launch, detailing how she initially took the common path Green spoke of and played guard for Midland College in Texas.
“When I graduated high school, I planned to travel, study, and play basketball in the USA for four years,” she said.
Though, before departing in 2021, she enrolled in a singular UTS subject as a back-up option and at the ensuing O’Day was eager to learn of the inaugural UBL competition launching that year.
“I was so excited to hear that I’d be able to play in a competitive university league to help me prepare for my move overseas. Being given the opportunity to travel around Australia and represent UTS was one of the most amazing experiences,” Sainsbury said about her debut season.
“In fact, I enjoyed it so much that after spending only two years away in the US, I decided to graduate there early and come back home to continue my studies here and rejoin the UTS basketball program.
“To this day, I believe it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.”
Green said Sainsbury is not the only player to have made that decision.
“At UTS specifically, we’ve started to see athletes choosing to come back home and continue developing within the Australian system. Just this year, two players in our men’s UBL squad, Jed Moor and Nic Kimball, made the decision to move home from college after one season and enrol at UTS.”
The 2026 UTS Men’s UBL Squad with head coach Nate Kirwan. Photo: James O’Donohue
However, Green conceded the Australian system still has a way to go if it is to truly compete with American colleges.
“The gap is really wide at the moment. You can’t compare the resources behind college basketball in America to where Australian university sport is currently at,” she said.
She underlined in particular a more limited financial ability to provide high-level scholarship opportunities.
“The amount of scholarship support available here is significantly lower, and that’s something that will need to develop over time if we want to get closer to what American colleges can offer,” she added.
“So we’re definitely not pretending we’re at the level of an American college program yet, but we’re taking the right steps to close the gap.
“As programs grow, we get more recognition, more athletes want to be involved and that creates opportunities to bring more commercial partners in and put more resources back into the athletes.
“We’re not going to close that gap overnight, but I don’t think it’s impossible either.”
Main image of Nikki Sainsbury speaking at the UTS Basketball season launch by James O’Donohue.
