Young Whittlesea Pacers star Jack Petruccelle will get the chance to test his basketball skills against the best in his age group from across the country.
The 16-year-old guard is one of 10 players selected for the Vic Metro under-18 team to play in the Australian Junior Championships in April.
Selection in the team came as surprise to Petruccelle and his family – his mum was in tears when she found out.
Originally one of 150 at the tryouts, the Epping teen got down to the last 24, who then competed in the East Coast Challenge.
The final Vic Metro team was selected after that event.
“I didn’t think I’d get in the team,” Petruccelle said last week.
“The kids were amazing at the East Coast Challenge. I was a bit nervous to start with but I thought I did well in the tournament.
“But even if I’d been cut then, I’d have been happy to get that far.”
Petruccelle was selected in the state team for the first time, he got down to the final 50 in under-16s in 2014.
Petruccelle grew up playing both basketball and football but his love of basketball won out.
“I wanted to play basketball because my mate was playing,” he said.
“No one in my family had played the game before but I love everything about it.”
Petruccelle said two coaches had made a real impact on his career. The first was his first junior coach when he played at Bulleen, former Australian women’s and current England women’s coach Tom Maher.
“Tom was amazing and one of the best coaches I’ve played under,” he said.
“I look back now and see how good he was.”
The second is his current Pacers Big V youth men’s coach, Paul Hughes.
Petruccelle said that when he was 12 he decided he wanted to move from Bulleen to Whittlesea so he could play with his mates.
Hughes pushed him to try out for the Pacers’ youth side last year, even though he was only 15 at the time.
The move paid off, with Petruccelle playing in the youth men’s division 1 premiership-winning team and was a finalist in that division’s rookie of the year award.
“Paul has been really good and I’m blessed to have him as a coach,” he said.
“I thought last year I would be a development player, so the minutes I played were unbelievable.
“Paul is always positive and he tells me what I should be doing and encourages me with my game.
“To win a premiership and to be nominated for rookie of the year was amazing.
“I couldn’t have asked for more in my first Big V season.”
