Bryce’s big break

Clyde basketballer Bryce Arnott, pictured left, during last September’s Under-19 Oceania Championships, has been earmarked for a spot in the Australian Emus side for next month’s World Championships. Picture courtesy Milbank Photography

By Paul Pickering
ONE lucky break was all Bryce Arnott needed to prove he belonged in the Australian Under-19 basketball team.
The 19-year-old Clyde resident was left out of the Aussie side for last September’s Oceania Championships, but he received a late call-up when one of the Emus’ guards was struck down by injury in a warm-up event.
He grabbed the opportunity with both hands, assuming the point guard duties to guide the Emus past New Zealand towards qualification for the Under-19 World Championships in Auckland next month.
Not surprisingly, Arnott is now a key figure in coach Marty Clarke’s plans for Auckland.
He jetted out for Paris this morning (Thursday) as part of the 12-man touring party that will play France, Puerta Rico and the USA before returning to Melbourne for the Four Nations Tournament from 26-28 June.
Arnott, who plays for Dandenong in the SEABL D-League, is among just four players picked from outside the Australian Institute of Sport scholarship program, so he was chuffed to secure his place in the main group.
“We all thought it was going to be pretty tough for us, because he (Clarke) isn’t watching us every day and seeing the progress that we’ve made,” Arnott explained from the Emus training camp in Canberra last week.
“So we really had to step it up during the camps and show the coach and the other players that we should be there.”
Arnott displayed his willingness to do the team thing during the Oceania tournament, and he believes that helped prove his credentials.
“I think it was the best I’ve played for a while,” he said.
“I wasn’t so much a scorer. I was more of a defensive player, and I think that’s what was needed.
“There are so many other good players in this team who have that freakish ability to score, so I know my role in the team.”
The 2009 Emus outfit may lack the star power of Andrew Bogut’s gold medal-winning 2003 team, but Arnott is quietly confident about the side’s prospects for the championships.
“I think there’s a very good vibe this year and we’re definitely going there (Auckland) hoping to win it,” he declared.
Arnott will leave for America shortly after the World Championships to begin his college career with the University of Alaska Anchorage, following in the footsteps of his older brother Ash, who played for Sonoma State University before injuring his back last summer.
He says Ash, 21, has given him an idea of what to expect from NCAA Division Two basketball, but reckons the northern climate will provide another challenge altogether.