The Norwood Flames have signed David Rinaldi, Esther Scharfbillig and Marco D'Annunzio for the 2022 Coles Express NBL1 Central season.
Rinaldi has flourished in his few short months in the NBL1 program.
Still only 17 years old, the future looks bright for the young prospect.
A huge step-up into NBL1, Rinaldi’s basketball IQ, speed of play and passing ability have served him well during pre-season training.
Quite a connection has already begun between Rinaldi and Anthony Green, as Rinaldi often finds Green for lobs in scrimmages.
A first-year U18 player, Scharfbillig plays the post as aggressively as anyone.
Coming from a netball background, her read on getting steals and deflections in the passing lanes is elite.
She also battles hard in the post and rebounding battles constantly.
Having just come into the U18 program, Scharfbillig has kept on working hard to improve herself over the previous months as she has been training with the NBL1 squad.
Getting used to the new systems and plays has been a great learning opportunity for Scharfbillig and she has already begun pushing limits and finding new elements to her game.
Being another promoted club junior, D'Annunzio has developed dramatically the past 18 months.
Standing at 6'8", D'Annunzio has just recently graduated from the U18 program and has been selected in the U20 Blue team for the upcoming U20 National Championships in Mackay in April.
This also serves as a great development opportunity for D'Annunzio to compete against the best in the country in his age group.
His game has continued to improve over these past three months since training with the NBL1 squad and battling against bigger, stronger bodies on a regular basis.
Players such as Anthony Green and Mitch Dix have pushed D'Annunzio and made him more physical in his game.
