ISAAC Humphries, 17, of Cronulla, has joined the Kentucky Wildcats in his next step on a pathway to playing in the USA's top basketball league, the NBA.
The 213-centimetre athlete started at the University of Kentucky last week after a short visit back home to visit family in Sutherland Shire.
A Sutherland Sharks Basketball Association junior and Monty Porter Foundation athlete, Humphries moved to the US in December 2014 to take up a scholarship with La Lumiere High School in Indiana.
The talented centre now known in the US as the "Aussie Big Man" was noticed by esteemed coach John Calipari at the University of Kentucky, who was suitably impressed.
The university has won the NCAA national title eight times, the second-best result in tournament history behind UCLA.
The teenager scored a record haul of points playing for the Australian men's under-17 team, which won a silver medal at the world championships in Dubai.
He scored 41 points in Australia's 85-74 loss to Canada.
Before heading to the US, he attended The Scots College and the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.