Basketball Australia's annual National Performance Camp was just as intense as you'd expect from an event that's held to prepare the nation's best up-and-coming athletes for what's ahead in their careers.
Canberra's Australian Institute of Sport hosted the 2025 iteration of the camp - held from January 21-24 - which featured over 50 boys and girls from across the country who have been identified as potential future Boomers and Opals.
The boys' side was run by the Centre of Excellence's Robbie McKinlay and Braden Cotter, who ran a tight ship as they guided the athletes through a myriad of drills and skill development sessions, before scrimmages on the final day. A pair of Australia's international basketball stalwarts, David Andersen and Nate Jawai, also lent a hand during the camp as mentors for the young talent invited to participate.
One NBA scout was in attendance for the camp, while multiple NBL teams sent representatives to observe the talent. The Sydney Kings' CEO Chris Pongrass, Tasmania JackJumpers' General Manager of Basketball Operations Mika Vukona, assistant coach Jarrad Weeks, and COO Darren Smith, and the Perth Wildcats' General Manager of Basketball Operations Danny Mills all made their way to Canberra for the event, as well as the General Manager of Next Stars Recruitment for the NBL, Liam Santamaria.
ESPN was in attendance for multiple days of the camp; here were the several players who emerged as clear standouts.
Antonio Browne - 6'4 guard (2009-born)
Browne was the player most outside attendees of the camp were most eager to get eyes on, following his impressive showing at the 2024 FIBA U15 Oceania Cup a few months earlier.
The Sydneysider projects as this age group's primary point guard, where he largely excels as an off-the-dribble advantage creator and high-level defender, thanks to his size, length, and athletic tools.
The defensive side end was where Browne stood out at camp, picking up full court, gliding with opponents to stay in front of the ball, and being active in the passing lanes; all areas he excelled in at the Oceania Cup. The way Browne moves is somewhat unique; he gets around the floor in a precise, almost-robotic fashion, and that description fits the mechanics of his jump-shot, which looked quite effective over the course of the camp.
There were some leadership-type qualities Browne exhibited throughout the camp, which culminated in his team winning both scrimmages on the final day. He was particularly impressive over those games, showing off elite footwork and balance in the paint, while making good decisions off dribble penetration.
Over that last day of camp, Browne separated himself from the pack, with the point guard emerging as one of the players at this event who drew preliminary interest from the NBL's Next Stars program.
It's worth noting that two of the other intriguing players from that U15 Australian team - Victoria's Will Hamilton (6'5, 2009-born) and Western Australia's Luke Paul (6'4, 2009-born) - sat out the entirety of this camp due to injury.
Guer Bar - 6'6 guard/wing (2008-born)
Another standout from the camp was Victoria's Guer Bar, who's someone still relatively new to Basketball Australia's development pathway but established himself as one of the players in the gym with among the highest ceilings.
Here, we have a 6'6 wing who showed off an impressive level of athleticism - he had a pretty substantial poster dunk on day three of camp, an alley-oop jam through contact in transition to open the first scrimmage, and some noteworthy moments as a help-side defender - and exhibited a jump-shot that looked incredibly fluid and effective during the shooting drills.
Bar's athletic tools are what immediately catches the eye, but the refined skill package for his age is what makes him particularly intriguing as a potential pro down the line.
The Victorian was another prospect from this camp who caught the eye of the NBL as a potential Next Star, with the league set to track his progress moving forward.
Isaiah Jorgenson - 6'7 guard/wing (2009-born)
When we talk about standouts from the Oceania Cup who most were excited to get more eyes on at this camp, Isaiah Jorgenson was among those atop that list, and he didn't disappoint.
He was one of the younger players at the event, and the thing that continues to stand out is his size and length for his position that's a point of difference within his age group. The 6'7 wing is long, showed glimpses of athleticism, and looks like he'll project as someone who can carry the ball with some regularity moving forward; he played the point for much of the second scrimmage on the final day. The shooting touch, and form, looked more advanced than some of his counterparts as well, especially when getting shots up on the move.
Jorgenson has long strides, which allows him to get two feet in the paint consistently, and he can use his size to finish over bigger opponents. He was better at that at the Oceania Cup, because he was a bottom-age player at this camp, but the impressive glimpses remained, and he showed enough of it at last year's U16 National Championships, where he averaged 21.4 points and 13.9 rebounds per game for Queensland South. That physical framework also looks like it'll translate to, potentially, Jorgenson developing into a high-level, multi-positional defender, which he's shown over the course of his junior career thus far.
Sam Haslett - 6'5 wing (2008-born)
One of the most refined players at this camp was Victoria's Sam Haslett, who caught fire in the scrimmages.
The 6'5 wing looked like an ideal off-ball wing, hitting catch-and-shoot threes at a high rate - particularly from the corners - and showed an impressive touch in and around the paint. Haslett caught fire in the first scrimmage, hitting multiple three-pointers to help lead his team to a win; he also had some nice finishes in transition throughout the scrimmages, using his size and touch to finish among traffic.
Koby Moir - 6'2 guard (2008-born)
Koby Moir really quickly emerged as the player at this camp who was, perhaps, best equipped to handle the intensity and disciplined nature of it.
The South Australian is a mature point guard who was comfortable performing against and absorbing physicality, and used his handle and quickness to get to his spots on a regular basis. Moir looked comfortable as a leader, and showed an IQ beyond his age, particularly in the three-on-three session, where players were forced to make quick decisions in a not-so-comfortable style of play.
What he projects as moving forward as a smaller guard is still yet to be seen but, regardless, Moir is the type of player any coach would want on a team right now.
Tom Dammers - 6'2 guard (2009-born)
Over the course of camp, Tom Dammers showed glimpses of a really useful complementary skillset; he looks like a solid-level shooter, finished well in and around the paint, and played with a high work rate.
We saw a lot of that during his time at the Oceania Cup, too, where he averaged 8.3 points per game, emerging as the type of guard that defenders need to get out to in the corners. Unfortunately, he didn't play in most of the final day of camp.
Isaac Riddle - 6'7 forward (2008-born)
If you asked around camp at who the best straight up athletes were, Isaac Riddle would be on the top of a lot of lists.
The 6'7 forward is already a high-level up-and-down athlete, rising up for dunks down the lane in the half-court, and snatching down boards at a really good rate.
There's still a wing skillset that needs to develop with Riddle - the growth of his jump-shot and general ball-carrying package will determine what position he slots into moving forward - but the physical framework seems to project as a really good player in the South Australian.