Jet-setting Furphy ready to launch his basketball career with elite program

Story By Emily Clooney  The Advocate

Jacob Furphy is about to take his basketball career to new heights.

The 18-year-old announced on Wednesday that he has committed to playing college basketball at the University of Connecticut.
While he is not the first Tasmanian - or Coastal - product to jet off to America, he will become the first to play at a school that has won back-to-back NCAA division one championships.
The decision to play for the Huskies, as they are known in the Big East conference, was not an easy one to make, his mum Alisha shared.
"It was overwhelming [the process] because [he] got a fair bit of college interest," Alisha said.
"He narrowed it down to two schools - UConn and Illinois. He loved both and liked different things about each one.
"It was a really hard decision for him and he delayed making the decision because he didn't want to let anyone down.
"He chose UConn because he thinks he fits the best in their structure and the way they play the game, and has the best coaching staff to help him develop. He's excited for the next chapter."
The 198 centimetre guard has spent the past two years further his skills in Canberra at the Australian Institute of Sport - first at the NBA Global Academy before transferring to the Centre of Excellence.In his time in the high performance program, he has played for Australia on several occasions and has taken to courts around the world. He averaged 16.8 points and 4.2 assists per game at the FIBA under 18 Asia Cup in Jordan last month.
Alisha was confident that his time with the CoE would hold him in good stead ahead of his move to the United States.
"For us, we think him being away for two years will make the transition a lot easier because he's used to being away from home and family," she said.
"He's loved his time with the CoE and there's never been a time that he hasn't wanted to be there.
"Obviously we don't get to watch him play live [often] but we watch him a lot on TV and we can see how much he's grown as a player and a leader. He's grown up a lot, he's not like the average 18-year-old."
The Smithton product is expected to stay in Canberra until mid-next year to ensure he graduates from the program despite having an opportunity to move to Connecticut in December.
Basketball Tasmania's state development manager Nic Martin welcomed the news.
"He's literally ticked off every box on the pathway," Martin said.
"Him getting this opportunity reflects positively on the pathways we have in place for our Tasmanian athletes, and absolutely it should be aspirational for any young basketballers coming through."