KOCHI: Upcoming basketball star from Kerala Pranav Prince continues to write new chapters in his fairytale story.
The 17-year-old became the first male hoopster from Kerala to get a high school basketball scholarship in the USA.
He is also only the second male athlete from the NBA Academy India to earn such a scholarship after he was signed up by First Love Christian Academy (FLCA), a private high school in Washington, Pennsylvania.
"The ultimate goal is to play in the NBA and this is a step in that direction. This is a big opportunity for me and to train in the US is going to help me a lot in my career. I hope that I can perform well enough so that I can get a scholarship in a Division 1 College in the US which is the next step. But it's one step at a time and that's how I got this far," Pranav told The New Indian Express.
The youngster who hails from Thiruvananthapuram has been training at the NBA Academy India since 2018 after being spotted in the 2016-17 Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program.
The 6 foot 6 point guard represented the NBA Academy India at the 2018 and 2019 NBA Academy Games in Australia and the US respectively.
He led the NBA Academy India in scoring (15.3) and rebounding (8.8) in the Stage 1 of Euro Youth Basketball League in Hungary in 2019.
Prince was also one of the 23 NBA Academy prospects from 15 countries selected to participate in the NBA Global Academy Development Camp in Australia in November 2019.
He was also a member of the India U-16 team that went unbeaten in the SABA Basketball Championships 2019 and clinched a spot in the next edition of the FIBA U16 Asia Cup
He has now become the first from the country to earn a scholarship at the FLCA.
“I’m excited to announce that Pranav Prince will become the first student athlete from India to attend our program and will be playing on our National Team. We work extremely hard to identify and develop international student-athletes at a high level, competitively, culturally and globally as we prepare them for the next level. Pranav has a bright future ahead of him, he works extremely hard in the classroom and on the court, and is determined to be great,” said First Love Christian Academy CEO Nathan Roesing.
Hailing from a humble background, Pranav stays grounded despite his rapid strides in the sport.
"Nothing came easy for me and it is because I trained harder than everyone else that I got here. I don't want to take anything for granted and I want to thank everyone, from my parents to my coaches to NBA India for this opportunity. My parents have sacrificed a lot for me and I wouldn't be here without them. Now, I have to adjust to a new country and new surroundings and I'll miss Kerala and India but I have a dream of playing in the NBA and everything else is secondary. I'm really looking forward to this next chapter," said Pranav.
Those at NBA India feel that Pranav is one of India's brightest prospects.
"We first witnessed his potential at our Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program in 2017. A year later, he was at the National Finals of our elite talent scouting program ACG-NBA Jump. He made the cut to join the Academy in 2018 where he honed his skills, developed his game, focusing on becoming a guard," Marc Pulles, Basketball Operations Team Leader of NBA India told The New Indian Express.
Earlier this month, Ann Mary Zachariah became the first Keralite to get a scholarship in the US. The Kansas State Life Preparatory Academy offered her the scholarship.