The Canberra Capitals have locked away one of the brightest young talents in Australian women's basketball, re-signing dynamic scorer Casey Samuels for another two years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 18-year-old - the younger sister of discus world champion Dani - showed glimpses of her immense talent in her first season since graduating from the AIS, but is set to earn increased minutes as she continues to develop her all-round game.
While stressing she will need to work hard to reach her full potential, Capitals coach Carrie Graf said the 1.8-metre shooting guard could be a star in the WNBL.
''She starts on the Australian junior team, she's got a scorer's mentality, she's got good athleticism and she's got a good basketball IQ,'' Graf said.
''When she develops her work ethic and decides she wants to be a professional basketballer and put her head down and butt up, I think we're going to see a pretty exciting player over the next few years.
''The first year out of the AIS for the young players is an adjustment.
''The next few years we'll see her mature and evolve to be the best basketballer she can be.
''But she has a lot of things to suggest she can be one hell of a WNBL player and even more.''
Samuels has recently returned from a tour of China with the Australian under-19 women's team, where she scored a game-high 25 points in a win against Brazil.
The Gems won six of their nine games, with Samuels starting in all but one due to a shin injury.
''It gave me a lot of confidence because I didn't play much last season,'' Samuels said.
''Being on the bench was still a learning experience, training and playing with the senior girls and working with someone like [Graf] who has a lot of knowledge behind her.
''I'm really happy to stay with the Capitals and hopefully I can play a bigger role this season.''
