HOLIDAYING American Nick Freer walked into a Hunters training session at Newcastle Basketball Stadium early last month, keen for a chance to play.
Two hours later, after the sky-walking swingman dazzled them with a series of slam dunks and athletic aerobatics, gobsmacked Hunters coach Darren Nicholls and his young team thought Christmas had come a couple of weeks late.
The 24-year-old forward was signed for the Waratah Australian Basketball League season and will make his maiden flight in Newcastle airspace at the pre-season Hunters Invitational Tournament at Broadmeadow today.
"When Nick presented himself to us, it was on a whim, because he was here on holiday and you often get approaches like that from different players," Newcastle Basketball general manager Ivan Spyrdz said.
"But he came in and had a few training sessions with the boys, and you could see straight away he was a class above and that was with him coming off a fairly long Christmas break.
"Nick can dunk standing dunk, reverse dunk, alley-oops and that's what people want to see. Basketball is a great sport to watch anyway, but when you throw in an excitement machine like Nick, he's a fantastic addition to the squad and will really lift the boys this season. He's certainly NBL quality, but he'll be playing for the Hunters."
Born and educated in Michigan, Freer played three years at Eastern Michigan University then transferred to Grand Valley State University for his senior year in 2007-08.
He helped GVSU win 36 straight games before they lost to eventual champions Winona State in the quarter-finals of the NCAA Division II national tournament.
Freer returned to GVSU last year to complete his degree in communication, then pursued his basketball career by joining a Darwin All Stars team for a series of tournaments in Asia.
He trained with several teams in Melbourne in December, including the four-time NBL champion Melbourne Tigers, then headed to Newcastle to celebrate New Year's Eve.
"I knew some people in Newcastle because my best friend back home studied here and had some real close friends here," Freer said.
"I stayed with them for a couple of weeks and was itching to play, so I called up the stadium here that first week in January they were actually practising and invited me in and things fitted really well."
Standing a wiry 198cm, Freer hopes to use his Hunters stint as an NBL job interview.
"I'd love to have a go at the NBL. They're saying that maybe there will be expansion next year which would be great, because I think I could fit in well with an NBL team," he said.
Games in the HIT, featuring 25 teams from throughout NSW, start at 11am. The Hunters play NSW Country under 18s at 1pm and arch rivals Maitland at 7pm.
For a sneak peek of Freer's college highlights, check out the following YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=FWWneIUohkY
Email a friend