Australia's best young basketball players chase big hoop dreams at National Performance Camp in Canberra

Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport is where future Boomers and Opals have gathered to showcase their skills, pushing each other to develop under expert coaching as part of the National Performance Camp.

These are the best of the best that the country has to offer, with selection in junior national teams on the line.

"Training at an elite level is amazing," towering centre from WA, Savannah Metcalfe, said.

"This is how you get your foot in the door.

"It gives me an understanding of who my competition is, and if I make the team what kind of role I'm going to have."

At 6-foot-6, Metcalfe is one of the tallest girls at the camp.

The former netballer who grew up in a hockey-mad family has goals to follow her idol WNBA legend Jackson into the pros, but wants college to be her next step after high school.

"My height is one of my advantages and I like to play to it," she said.

"I'd love to play for the Opals, and both the WNBA and WNBL if possible.

"This year will be a big one if scouts want to watch me and recruit for college."

Meanwhile, Queensland's Roman Siulepa is among Australia's most talked about juniors.

He was named MVP of the NBA's Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp at the AIS in August, and was recruited to the NBA Global Academy last year, but chose to return to Brisbane after a few months to be closer to family.

Basketball is lucky to have him too with Siulepa formerly an up-and-coming rugby player.

He was even once selected in the Emerging Reds Cup as a top under-15 rugby prospect in Queensland.

"I was just a rugby player and picked up basketball as a hobby. With the progress I've made, it is surreal," Siulepa said.

Siulepa wants to go pro eventually, with a preference to stay close to home.

But he also wants to inspire more kids with Pasifika background like him to get into basketball.

"A big goal of mine is having an influence on getting other Polynesian kids to play," Siulepa, who is of Samoan heritage, said.

"While I have a bit of hype around me, if I can play a part where people can look up to me as a Polynesian athlete and continue this, that'd be pretty cool."

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