Written by Oliver Kay.
CoE Men’s Head Coach Adam Caporn has officially announced the new CoE Men’s and NBA Global Academy scholarship recipients.
The CoE boasts an illustrious list of alumni, including Boomers, Patty Mills, Aron Baynes, Matthew Dellavedova and Opals stars Lauren Jackson, Liz Cambage and Belinda Snell.
The program brings together the upper echelon of young players from around Australia together in one place. At the AIS they live and train together, honing their craft in an elite high-performance space, facilitated by the guidance of world-class coaches.
These are the three players who have received scholarships to Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence:
Keanu Rasmussen (CoE)
“Keanu is a guard from Adelaide that had an outstanding U18 AJC and helped South Australia metro win a Silver Medal. As a player he brings elite shooting with great poise and decision making. Keanu’s diligence, work ethic and passion for basketball mean that he will only get better and better” shared CoE head coach Adam Caporn.
The athletic six-foot two-inch guard averaged 16.8 points throughout the U18 AJC and shot a tournament-leading 48.9 percent from beyond the three-point line, making 22 attempts.
Rasmussen’s best game was a 30-point game against Victoria Country, where he nailed seven threes.
Last year he was the co-captain of the Under-16 South Australian State Team.
Patrick Ryan (CoE)
“Hailing from Philip Island, Patrick had a strong U18 AJC with Victoria Country and made strong contributions in three NBL1 games with the CoE this past season. Patrick is a competitive and talented offensive player with an array of skills, we expect him to improve rapidly in our daily training environment.”
Ryan averaged 16.4 points and 5 rebounds for the AJC. He had a standout performance against NSW Country with a 26-point game in an overtime victory.
Ryan was also named on the 21-man Australia squad for the FIBA Under-17 Oceania Championships in New Caledonia in late August.
Biwali Bayles (CoE)
“We are very excited about Biwali joining the program. Coming off an outstanding U18 AJC, Biwali has the ability to change games on both ends of the floor. He brings not only talent, but a competitive edge and work ethic that should enable him to truly find out how good he can be.”
Bayles lead the AJC in assists (6.25) and steals (3.5) and ranked fifth in scoring with 17.8 points, at the national championships Bayles’ most impressive scoring performance came against Queensland South when he scored 38 points.
Like Ryan, Bayles was named on the Australian squad for the FIBA Under-17 Oceania Championship, making the ten-man team.
Last year Bayles attended the Nike All Asia Basketball Camp in Dongguan China as well as the NBA Prospects Camp.
Dyson Daniels (NBA Academy)
“Dyson is coming off a strong U18 performance and a very good NBL1 season where he has been a strong contributor on a very good Bendigo team. He helped Australia win the 2018 U15 Oceania Championship with 15 points and seven rebounds in the final. He shows great promise as a playmaker and can be a menace defensively.”
Daniels averaged 11.9 points for Victoria Country with a 25-point, 15 rebound performance against Queensland North a highlight.
The Bendigo Braves guard was also selected to attend this year’s NBA Academy Games in Atlanta with the NBA Global Academy. The event took place from 9-15 July at the Atlanta Hawks Facilities. Dyson also attended the NBL Next Gen Camp later in July 2019.
Basketball Australia
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